Donald Trump’s signature promise in 2016 was that he would build a wall along the southern US border with Mexico to keep out illegal immigrants. He promised to make Mexico pay for it.

Mexico didn’t of course, and the wall was incomplete when Joe Biden took office. One of Biden’s first acts as President was to order a halt to construction.

That was then.

As migrants have continued to surge across the border in record numbers, the Biden administration has announced plans to expand the wall and deport thousands of migrants who have entered the US illegally. This strikes me as somewhat embarrassing for the Democrats who railed against Trump’s policies and now find themselves replicating them.

If I was a cynic I would suggest that this decision shows polls are outweighing principles. I’m not a cynic though. I think the Buiden administration has now realized that, as much as you want to be a welcoming society, there are limits to what you can absorb and still function.

Open borders work, until they don’t. People looking for a better life who don’t have the language skills needed in their new country are going to struggle. Social services are limited, and the resources may not be available for rapid expansion.

I have no idea what the solution is to the worst migrant crisis since the end of the Second World War. I don’t think anyone else does either. Building a wall to keep people out might temporarily defer the issue, but it doesn’t make it go away.

People will figure out ways around it – they always do. Boats across the Gulf of Mexico perhaps, as we have seen for years across the Mediterranean.

Do you have any suggestions?