Top Senate Democrat calls border wall ineffectual, expensive

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Republican President Donald Trump landed in California on Tuesday afternoon to inspect prototypes for a possible wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, top Senate Democrats criticized the idea, saying a barrier would not provide effective protection. But the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, said his party supported including funds for other border measures in an omnibus spending bill Congress must pass soon. "I don't think the wall is border security. And we will fight for real border security - not fake border security - plain and simple," Schumer told reporters. "Our view on the wall as something that is ineffectual and expensive has not changed." (Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Peter Cooney)