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31 Aug, 2015 05:42

Great US-Canada Wall? GOP presidential candidate wants barrier to keep Canadian threat out

Great US-Canada Wall? GOP presidential candidate wants barrier to keep Canadian threat out

The US-Canadian border has become an issue in the 2016 US presidential campaign, as prominent Republican candidate Scott Walker entertained the idea of building a great wall between the two allied countries, which share the longest border in the world.

The comment was made during a talk-show interview with Walker, who said that building a northern wall could be worth looking into to secure the US from illegal migration.

“Some people have asked us about that in New Hampshire. They raised some very legitimate concerns, including some law-enforcement folks that brought that up to me at one of our town-hall meetings about a week and a half ago,” the Wisconsin governor said during an interview with NBC’s ‘Meet The Press.’ “So that is a legitimate issue for us to look at,” he confirmed.

Walker has stressed that US borders need to be better secured in the past, especially at the southern border with Mexico, stressing that it is not just a question of illegal immigration, but also of keeping out terrorists and international criminals as well.

During the interview, Walker said that America spends millions of dollars on airport and port security, so it “only makes sense” to pay as much attention to the borders, including the one with Canada.

Moreover, Walker said he would not just stop at building a wall, if he deemed it necessary. He would also add intelligence equipment, ensuring that the “intelligence community has the ability for counterterrorism and the ability to go after the infrastructure they need to protect us.”

The conversation quickly moved on to other issues such as the Middle East, the military, and national security. In fact, the comment about Canada did not even make it onto the airwaves and was merely posted on NBC’s website.

It is unclear exactly what statistics Walker was looking at that prompted him to identify Canada as a great threat to the northern border.

The most well-known case of a terrorist crossing into the US from Canada involved a failed millennium bomber named Ahmed Ressam. He was arrested in December 1999, when a customs agent noticed that Ressam looked suspicious as he was driving off a ferry from Canada onto Washington’s Olympic Peninsula in December of 1999. A search of the car’s trunk revealed explosives.

The idea of building a massive wall to keep certain people out seems as have become as popular in politics these days as it is on the hit TV show The Game of Thrones.

Republican’s leading presidential nominee Donald Trump has already introduced the idea of building what he calls the Great Wall of Trump between the US and Mexico. His other controversial ideas on immigration include deporting all illegal immigrants and putting an end to giving automatic citizenship to US-born children of illegal immigrants.

Another shocking statement was made by Republican contender Chris Christie, who said on Saturday that foreign visitors should be tracked like FedEx packages. He even wants to get the founder of FedEx involved to figure out a system that would make it possible.

The Ukraine-Russia border seems to be next in line for a new great wall, as Kiev authorities have approved a major new project worth $200 million to construct an enormous barrier between Ukraine and Russia, fully equipped with anti-tank ditches and remote controlled weapons stations.

In the meantime, Russia has already built a fortified wall 40 kilometers long, as well as more than 100 kilometers of defensive trenches along its border with the rebel Ukrainian regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

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