Rep. Duncan Hunter: Trump's ‘beautiful’ wall-- here's what he's gotta get right

Donald Trump’s proclamation that he would build a “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border was a major selling point in his campaign for the presidency. It was this commitment that helped propel Trump to the forefront of a crowded field of primary opponents either unwilling or hesitant to back the idea, and it no less helped distinguish him significantly from Hillary Clinton on a major political issue important to Americans not just in border states, but nationwide.

It will soon be show-time for Trump, who will step into the Oval Office just weeks from now with high expectations, and there is no doubt that millions of Americans are eager to see him follow through on this promise—as with many others.

In 2006, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into the law the Secure Fence Act, mandating the construction of more than 700 miles of border fencing along the Southwest border. The law was predicated on replicating the success of the San Diego border fence, which starts at the Pacific Ocean and extends inland approximately 14-miles.

The design in San Diego is simple yet extremely effective. Built in the mid-1990’s, the San Diego border fence consists of two layers of fencing, separated by a high-speed border patrol road and equipped with all the bells and whistles to give the Border Patrol every advantage to respond to illegal crossings. In short order, the San Diego border fence ceased drug vehicle drive-thrus and reduced the smuggling of people and narcotics by 90 percent, according to law enforcement statistics.

But the Bush administration had other ideas. Once the prospect of amnesty unraveled, so did the Bush administration’s interest in fulfilling the mandates of the Secure Fence Act.

So what did the Bush administration do?