![]() SHAPIRO: But it sounds like what you're suggesting is going to be a lot harder to point to, take a photograph in front of, talk about in a pithy soundbite than a great big beautiful wall might be. All right, are you going to build a wall in the middle of the Rio Grande River and then on top of a mountain peak? That doesn't make sense. ![]() I have the Big Bend National Park in my district, the highest peak is 8,000 feet. In some parts of my district we need horses and TVs rather than a wall. We haven't been giving them the resources that they need to do their job, that we need to allow them to adjust their tactics, techniques and procedures as they see fit based on the unique realities on the ground. We don't have enough border patrol officers. HURD: So the last eight years we have had kind of a one-size-fits-all solution to border security. SHAPIRO: So are you saying do basically what we've been doing but more of it, or are you saying do something completely different from what we've been doing the last five, 10 years? Let's increase the operations that the NSA and the CIA are doing to collect on those organizations, and work with our Mexican partners to stop the problem before it actually gets to our border. ![]() Let's focus on drug traffickers, you know, kingpin human smugglers. It's going to be significantly cheaper than building a wall. SHAPIRO: Well, what do you think would be more effective and cost-effective? And to just give some context of that number, the entire U.S. MIT did a breakdown on the cost, they think it could be anywhere between 27 and $40 billion. During the campaign, our president suggested that this was going to cost $9 billion. ![]() What you need in San Diego is very different than what you need in El Paso or Harlingen, and it's also the most expensive. HURD: Because having a one-size-fits-all solution to border security is the wrong way to do it. SHAPIRO: So that district where you are right now includes more of the border than any other congressional district, and you've put out a statement saying that Donald Trump's proposal for a wall is what you called the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border. Congressman Hurd joins us from his district in Texas. He is African-American, Republican and just won re-election in a district that is 70 percent Latino that went for Hillary Clinton. Congressman Will Hurd represents a district that includes an 800-mile stretch of border. We're going to hear now from someone who knows the U.S.-Mexico border better than almost anyone else in Washington. ![]()
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