After 11 years, Sen. Jeff Sessions may finally get his wall on the border

WASHINGTON – Sen. Jeff Sessions knows something about building fences.

The Alabama senator, a leading congressional opponent of overhauling immigration laws, has spent the better part of the last decade trying to fortify the border between the United States and Mexico, with mixed results.

Now considered a strong candidate for a job in the Cabinet of President-elect Donald Trump, Sessions could soon gain the power of the executive branch and the imprimatur to finish the task.

“The crisis at the southwest border highlights the simple fact that without barriers to prevent the illegal entry of additional aliens, the brave men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol simply do not have enough personnel to detain and deport all illegal border-crossers,” Sessions said eight days before Trump won the election.

One of Trump’s most indelible campaign promises is to erect a wall along the 2,000-mile Southern border, up to 55 feet tall, paid for by the Mexican government. Cost estimates are in the billions, and opponents say it is an unnecessary expense that will hurt the economy and wreck border communities and families.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Trump, in his first post-election comments about the border, told CBS’ 60 Minutes that he would be open to a combination of walls and fencing to block illegal border crossers.

“I’m very good at this, it’s called construction,” Trump said.

Sessions, if he were to be named Secretary of Homeland Security, would be in charge of immigration enforcement and border security, putting responsibility for his long sought-after wall directly on his desk. Sessions joined the Senate in 1997 and is in his fourth term.

Eleven years ago, he was working the halls of Capitol Hill to generate support for a 2,000-mile, $4 billion-$8 billion fence, but was unsuccessful. Ten years ago, he was a leading proponent of the Secure Fence Act, which required double-layered fencing along five segments of the Southwestern border of about 700 miles total. And in subsequent years, he’s tried to carve out money to finance the construction.

The Secure Fence Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. But Congress amended it two years later, eliminating the double-layer requirement and giving the Secretary of Homeland Security the flexibility to also use lighting, cameras and sensors “to gain operational control” of the border.

Today, the Department of Homeland Security reports that 651 miles of fencing is in place on the border with Mexico.

In the 2016 fiscal year that just ended, the agency apprehended almost 409,000 people at the Southwest border who were attempting to cross, up from 331,000 last year.

“Those who attempt to enter our country without authorization should know that, consistent with our laws and our values, we must and we will send you back,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday.

It is not good enough for Sessions or Trump, who say the border remains porous, threatening national security and the American economy.

Sessions has been a leading critic of President Obama’s immigration policy and he found a receptive ally in Trump. Sessions was the first sitting U.S. senator to endorse him in the Republican primary and he is now helping lead the effort to staff key leadership positions for the incoming Trump administration. Several Sessions’ allies are working on the DHS and national security transition teams, according to an organizational chart for the transition.

“Donald Trump will build the wall,” Sessions declared at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.

Frank Sharry, executive director of the pro-immigration group America’s Voice, called Sessions the most anti-immigrant member of the Senate.

"Building a 14th century wall in the 21st century would be an affront to who we are and to our neighbors in Latin America, as well as being a monument to stupidity," Sharry said.

Efforts to reach Sessions for comment Monday were unsuccessful.

Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com

Who will be in Trump's Cabinet? A few possibilities

Sen. Jeff Sessions says Donald Trump is redefining conservatism