The idea of a huge wall on the border between Mexico and the United States has been a very compelling topic circulating through social media. Is the wall really worth building, though? Personally, I think the answer is no.
Let’s start with a recent tweet from President Trump: “Build the wall and crime will fall.”
This is where statistics have turned up: More American citizens get involved in crime than immigrants do. So, are we bordering criminals out or keeping them in? The whole “crime will fall” notion isn’t plausible.
Trump also claimed that the wall would stop drugs from coming in illegally, when in reality, only 39 percent of drugs come from the border and the majority enters at legal ports. Some other stats: Illegal immigration has been decreasing greatly, there are more arrests at the border than within the country and most illegal immigrants are people who were authorized to come into the country but stayed longer than legally permitted.
When I read these, I just think…Why?
Border patrol has been thriving, and building a wall would just keep illegal immigrants in rather than out. Furthermore, there are ways to get around a wall. Or over a wall. Or under a wall. Enough said.
And that’s not to mention the money factor. I read an article saying no one really knows how much the wall will cost. Some
sources say $20 billion, others say over $60 billion, and so on. Trump has no way to pay for it.
So here’s where we get into the government shutdown, which ended Friday, Jan. 25. Trump allegedly shut down the government in hopes of gaining allocations to his wall fund. After Mexico made it clear they weren’t going to pay for it – shocker – Trump had to do something to get the money. What better than halting millions of paychecks just to harass people into giving in to his wishes?
Not only does the wall have no solid reason for existing, but I think it is turning people against each other. Democrats and Republicans bicker 24/7, those in favor of the wall don’t even give legal immigrants the time of day and our own government is divided. It is one big joke.
This is a big mess that is tearing the country apart and leaving many other things unattended. We need a government, not a wall. I really think there are greater issues to be dealt with: homelessness, civil rights, unemployment rates, etc. When I think of issues to fix, immigration is not too high up on the list, especially considering the way Trump wants to fix it.
The wall, in essence, is a waste of time, money and resources. It is not possible and if it were to be, it would just make the country worse. It’s a huge money pit and directed towards something that is decreasing anyway.
I really think Trump just said “build a wall” to win the election. When he won and realized it’d be harder to do than he thought, he had to go to drastic measures to even get the ball rolling… which it hasn’t, yet. It is hurting us as a nation far more than it is helping.
Opinion by Abby Welsh, Vanguard Reporter
- Defunding Planned Parenthood is a great loss for women - 22 Sep 2019
- “IT: Chapter Two” falls short of viewers’ expectations - 16 Sep 2019
- Walmart is making progress with new gun regulations - 9 Sep 2019
Categories: Uncategorized
