As you probably remember, President Joe Biden ran for office on a promise (among many others) “not to build another foot” of what he referred to as “Donald Trump’s wall” on the southern border. In reality, of course, he’s actually continued some of the construction work, but polite people in the mainstream media don’t like to talk about that very much. But it’s still fair to say that border wall construction has slowed tremendously and isn’t any sort of priority for the Biden administration. But that doesn’t mean that plenty of miles of border wall won’t be going up in the near future. The difference is, these wall sections will be found on the border between Greece and Turkey. It’s being done in an effort to project a clear message to any migrants looking to illegally enter the country and make their way deeper into Europe. You are no longer welcome. (Associated Press)

As the world begins to travel again, Europe is sending migrants a loud message: Stay away!

Greek border police are firing bursts of deafening noise from an armored truck over the frontier into Turkey. Mounted on the vehicle, the long-range acoustic device, or “sound cannon,” is the size of a small TV set but can match the volume of a jet engine.

It’s part of a vast array of physical and experimental new digital barriers being installed and tested during the quiet months of the coronavirus pandemic at the 200-kilometer (125-mile) Greek border with Turkey to stop people entering the European Union illegally.

What Greece is preparing to build is being described as a “digital fortress.” It will combine elements of physical barriers, high-tech surveillance equipment using artificial intelligence and experimental “digital barriers.” The Greeks were clearly watching what Donald Trump was building over the past several years because the physical wall design looks awfully familiar. They are employing both steel slats and bollards as impediments to both vehicular and foot traffic. Cameras with night vision will warn border security forces of any suspicious movement on the Turkish side of the border and access roads will allow security forces to quickly travel between lookout towers to intercept anyone who manages to make it past the defenses.

The Greeks have already spent more than $3.7 billion on technological research and resources to begin the work. They’re getting help from other European Union nations also. This is a clear sign that there’s been a definite shift in attitudes among many of these nations from the prevailing “wisdom” preached by Angela Merkel in previous years. The old theory of humanitarian policies designed to allow virtually unfettered access to migrants fleeing Syria, Iraq and neighboring countries has clearly lost much of its popularity. Now they’re moving toward locking down the borders.

And why wouldn’t they? Most of Europe has already experienced the negative effects of unrestricted migration from primarily Islamic nations. This has been especially true in France and Germany, with Italy also experiencing more than its fair share of troubles. Increased levels of crime and sporadic terror attacks added burdens on top of the cost of providing social services for all of the new arrivals. And particularly in Germany, they learned that many of these migrants had no interest in assimilating into the local culture.

Other countries, particularly the eastern European nations from the former Soviet block, took to beefing up their borders from the beginning. Perhaps their experiences have begun to color the opinions of some of the more socialist-leaning countries like France. On top of all that, the Greeks are desperate to rebuild their tourist industry after the shutdowns caused by the pandemic. Having an army of migrants flooding into the resort communities simply isn’t good for business.

What we’re witnessing here seems to be a bizarre sort of role reversal. With the ascension of Joe Biden in the United States and the imminent departure of Angela Merkel in Germany, we’re basically flipping our immigration policies. America is throwing its borders open while the European Union is slamming theirs closed. It’s amazing the things you manage to not learn by watching the rest of the world sometimes.