What I’m about to describe to you isn’t a new idea. In fact, it’s probably been thrown about by Congressmen, Senators, and White House advisers since before the government shutdown started. But there’s a reluctance to take advantage of it that I’ll discuss a little later. For now, let’s talk about Title X, subtitle A, part 1, chapter 15, section 284 of the United States code.

Yes, it’s a mouthful, but stay with me on it.

Title X refers to the armed forces. Subtitle A covers general military law. Part 1 details legal military powers. Chapter 15 covers military support for civilian law enforcement agencies. Hmm. You probably already know where I’m heading with this, but let’s dig into section 284, which is titled, “Support for counterdrug activities and activities to counter transnational organized crime.”

Subsection A reads:

(a)Support to Other Agencies.—The Secretary of Defense may provide support for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime of any other department or agency of the Federal Government or of any State, local, tribal, or foreign law enforcement agency for any of the purposes set forth in subsection (b) or (c), as applicable, if—

(1) in the case of support described in subsection (b), such support is requested—

(A) by the official who has responsibility for the counterdrug activities or activities to counter transnational organized crime of the department or agency of the Federal Government, in the case of support for other departments or agencies of the Federal Government;

Okay, so far, so good. The Secretary of Defense can provide support for law enforcement agencies at all levels requesting assistance to fight drug or organized crime that’s coming from transnational sources. That means drug lords trafficking across the border. It means MS-13 sending members into America. Heck, a local county sheriff on the border could ask the Secretary of Defense for assistance if he couldn’t keep up with heroine traffickers crossing the Rio Grande.

Now, the next logical question is what can the Defense Secretary do to support law enforcement agencies at the border? The answer is found in subsection B, line 7.

(7) Construction of roads and fences and installation of lighting to block drug smuggling corridors across international boundaries of the United States.

Some may balk at this point. They’ll say we need a wall, not a fence. I have no idea if it’s legal to call the steel slats the President is requesting a fence, per se, but even if they can’t be considered fencing, we should take a quick peek at Israel’s border with Egypt. Prime Minister Netanyahu recently Tweeted an image of the fence that has virtually eliminated illegal immigration on their southern border.

#10YearChallenge pic.twitter.com/8rX4elCwmq

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) January 17, 2019

As you can see, this isn’t a chain link fence that border crossers could climb over or cut through in a matter of seconds. This is a sturdy, tall fence with a gnarly razor wire at the top. By itself, it cannot solve our border crisis. Combined with monitoring technology, increased border patrols, and a concerted campaign to inform people south of the border that they need to use the designated ports of entry, this will dramatically improve our border security.

The best part is, we don’t need to keep the government shutdown. We don’t need to convince Democrats to come to their senses. The President wouldn’t have to declare a national emergency that would wrap the border wall in so much red tape, we won’t see construction beginning for years. And, we wouldn’t have to trade amnesty to get it done.

This would be a beautiful move for the President. Imagine how Democrats would look if they passed on his offer to extend DACA protections, only to have him rescind his offer and build the barrier anyway. They’ll look like stubborn fools who had an opportunity to make a trade and squandered that opportunity with nothing to show for it.

Now, if you’re wondering why this isn’t done, I’ll assume it’s because of the wording. It’s a fence. The President wants a wall. Heck, I want a wall. But at this point, I’ll take a tall, thick fence with gnarly razor wire on top instead of the open air that currently separates the United States from illegal immigrants, drug traffickers, gang members, and terrorists.

If you would like to see this happen, please alert everyone you know about this information. Get every conservative on your Twitter list to Tweet this at the President and those in his orbit. Share it heavily on Facebook. Let them know we want the border secured and the government open and there’s a solution sitting right in front of them. Let’s make America safe again as quickly as possible.

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese investigators have determined that the doctor behind the reported birth of two babies whose genes had been edited in hopes of making them resistant to the AIDS virus acted on his own and will be punished for any violations of the law, a state media report said Monday.

Investigators in the southern province of Guangdong determined Dr. He Jiankui organized and handled funding for the experiment without outside assistance in violation of national guidelines, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Along with the birth of the twins, Lulu and Nana, another embryo yet to be born reportedly resulted from He’s experiment, while five others did not result in fertilization. All three will remain under medical observation with regular visits supervised by government health departments, Xinhua said.

It didn’t say which laws He might have violated but said he had fabricated an ethical review by others.

“This behavior seriously violates ethics and the integrity of scientific research, is in serious violation of relevant national regulations and creates a pernicious influence at home and abroad,” the report said.

Then little-known, He attended an elite meeting in Berkeley, California, in 2017 where scientists and ethicists were discussing a technology that had shaken the field to its core — an emerging tool for “editing” genes, the strings of DNA that form the blueprint of life.

He embraced the tool, called CRISPR, and last year rocked an international conference with the claim that he had helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies , despite a clear scientific consensus that making genetic changes that could be passed to future generations should not be attempted at this point.

China called an immediate halt to He’s experiments following his announcement.

Gene editing for reproductive purposes is effectively banned in the U.S. and most of Europe. In China, ministerial guidelines prohibit embryo research that “violates ethical or moral principles.”

The chief of the World Health Organization said last year his agency is assembling experts to consider the health impact of gene editing.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said gene editing “cannot be just done without clear guidelines” and experts should “start from a clean sheet and check everything.”

“We have a big part of our population who say, ‘Don’t touch,’” Tedros told reporters. “We have to be very, very careful, and the working group will do that.”

Throughout Trump’s first two years in office, I’ve been one of only a handful of conservative voices shouting from the rooftops that the New York liberal’s promise to fix America’s out-of-control illegal immigration problem was nothing but a lie.

As a candidate, Trump promised to build a “big beautiful powerful wall” on our southern border at Mexico’s expense, and he promised to overturn Obama’s unconstitutional Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order that allowed illegals to stay in America indefinitely. Unfortunately, the “wall” has become an “artistically designed” barrier of some sort funded by the U.S. taxpayer, and DACA is not only still in effect, it’s on its way to becoming permanent.

While the reality of Trump’s broken promises dealing with illegal immigration have been crystal clear to those not drinking the orange Kool-Aid, his inevitable betrayal on the issue has been brought sharply into focus since last summer.

In May 2018, as Trump and the GOP were looking for ways to save their jobs ahead of the midterms, the House Freedom Caucus joined hands with Democrats to push for a “fix” to DACA.

In June 2018, Paul Ryan proposed a plan that would allow DREAMers to legally stay in the country and be put on the pathway to citizenship in exchange for $23 billion for building a border wall.

Following their September 2018 budget betraying funding everything from Planned Parenthood to DACA and sanctuary cities, rumors began spreading around Washington that Trump was ready to cut an immigration deal with Democrats in light of the reality that the Democrats were about to retake the House in the midterms.

The Democrats did retake the House, and in the days since their victory, Trump and the GOP have been laying the foundation for their inevitable immigration betrayal. With the help of Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner, trading DACA amnesty for a border wall is now the official position of the Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Senate.

So, it came as no surprise when Trump proposed a deal over the weekend to end to his manufactured government shutdown by offering Democrats a three-year extension of DACA in exchange for $5 billion for border security funding — an idea originally conceived by Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Three years? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but that’s just enough time to kick the can down the road until after his 2020 election … assuming there is one. And just in case there are any doubts about the motivation behind this three-year timeframe, consider this: Mitch McConnell, who has refused to let the Senate vote on the shutdown, has endorsed Trump’s offer and will hold vote on it this week.

I commend @POTUS for his leadership in proposing this bold solution to reopen the government, secure the border, and take bipartisan steps toward addressing current immigration issues.
My full statement: https://t.co/3lfItBQzEC

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) January 19, 2019

Mickey is also up for re-election in 2020.

For now, Democrats are rejecting Trump’s offer, but it’s only a matter of time before they get what they want. After all, Trump and the GOP want the same thing.

Originally posted on StridentConservative.com.

David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative. His daily radio commentary is distributed by the Salem Radio Network and is heard on stations across America.

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