No. of Recommendations: 15
And yet there are still people who want to lie and gaslight and claim that the border isn't wide open.
If the border is wide open, how are there so many apprehensions?
I think your concerns over what other people say about the border merely stems from your use of a vague term like "wide open" to describe the problems. An "open" border typically involves unrestricted freedom of movement across the boundary. We have open borders between the states, the EU zone has open borders between the various countries for EU residents, etc. We don't have that, even along the southern border.
What we do have is border enforcement geared towards apprehending and processing those who cross without proper visas. That's not an open border. That policy worked pretty well when many (most?) of the folks crossing the border were single, mostly Mexican working age men travelling alone whose main goal was to try to enter undetected. It's not working well when many (most?) of the folks crossing the border are in family groups who make no effort to evade being apprehended, and are instead presenting asylum claims that we don't have the bandwidth to process timely.
Whether you think that's the right approach, or whether it's being enforced properly, is a separate question from whether the border is "wide open."
