WASHINGTON — Texas Sen. John Cornyn told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexican border is only one part of a strong border defense that also must include top technology and adequate staffing.

Cornyn, the Republican chairman of the subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, argued for effective border control that combines “physical barriers, where appropriate, state of the art technology and more boots on the ground.”

Cornyn also noted that a wall would not only block illegal immigrants, it also could stop floods.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said, though, that a border wall in the wrong places could lead to flooding and other problems south of the border.

Flake added that building the wall might pose a particular problem for Texas because much of the border there is on private property, which would have to be taken over by the government.


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