Category: Border Wall

Joseph Fort Newton once said, “men build too many walls and not enough bridges.” Historically the use of political symbolism has served as an engine for strengthening and immortalizing regimes; consolidating and unifying citizens in a physical manifestation steeped in their respective rhetoric. The Border Wall, slated to stretch from San Diego to El Paso proposed by president Donald J Trump will separate Mexico from the United States, forever towering a monument to the Trump administration. While many Americans believe The Boarder Wall a solution to America’s illegal immigration, we as Americans are obligated to look past emotions invoked by the imagery of The Boarder and instead closely examine its projected efficacy. The economic efficiency, ecological impacts, and humanitarian repercussions stand as pillars of history we need find ourselves rightly situated in.

In 2017, according to the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), the United States Customs and Border Patrol requested $1.6 billion for only 65 miles covering the Rio Grande sector (Washington, DC: 2018). President Trump’s initial proposed total was $5 billion for Fiscal Year 2020 from start to completion of the border wall (American Immigration Council, 2019). However, the GAO has said in the past that United States Customs and Border Patrol evaluated and designed proposed border barriers without including sufficient analysis on their exact cost (American Immigration Council, 2019). This means the border wall is likely to amount in a significantly higher estimate than what United States Customs and Border Patrol estimated (American Immigration Council, 2019). In 2017, the US spent $274 million on maintenance alone. The state of the United States current six hundred and fifty miles of fencing lies over-budget tripling its past budget since 2017 (Department of Homeland Security, 2017, 11). A better alternative to increase security and situational awareness would be the assets utilized in modern day combat. One being tethered Intel, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) technology. It would be more costly effective for maintenance and manning than it would for a complete border wall and maintenance year after year. Instead of the economic burden of over-hiring agents and involving the National Guard, having special reconnaissance units and better trained CBP agents would indubitably drive national budget cost down for the years to come.

When researchers H Su, L-J Qu, K He, Z Zhang, J Wang, Z Chen and H Gu examined several species of plants residing on both sides of the great wall of china in combination with that of five species from seemingly identical distances apart from a nearby mountain top they were able to selectively study the effects the Great Wall of China has on genetic differentiation. What they found was that subpopulations on the nearby mountain path and diverged genetically speaking in a significantly larger sense than that of the two subpopulations divided by the Great Wall of China (Su, et al., 2003). The Great Wall of China in a sense was serving as a physical barrier to genetic drift otherwise known as gene flow significantly impacting the success of plant animal and bug species in the nearby area (Su, et al., 2003). If we take the Great Wall of China as a template for what the United States can expect when the United States erects a wall of its own there should be a cause for concern. According to Ellestrand, “Gene flow acts as an evolutionary glue by swapping alleles around the population between each other, there is an evolutionary united that it makes sense to call a species. Without gene flow you simply have a group of things that look similar at the moment because we they’re under similar selection pressures (Salt & Salthttp, 2016).” The Great Wall of China towers as a prime example of the ecological impacts of impediments to gene flow.

The United States and the Constitution was built by immigrants and the melting pot heritage. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t solely made to proclaim the separation between the United States and the British government. It was also created to reprobate restrictions on trade and immigration. It is not practical, or morally right to round up all the illegal immigrants and deport them indiscriminately. Many leave their home country seeking asylum from not just religious persecution but poverty, violence and illnesses that cannot be taken care of in their country. America was a place human being looked at as the paradise that gifts freedom, refuge and dreams of a better future.

The crippling cost of the wall does not meet what we as Americans must hold as the threshold for economic legitimacy. The families splintered and fractured, environmental pitfalls which may alter the ecosystem with long reaching repercussions cannot be overlooked. To let symbols trump reason, building the Border Wall would be a disastrous mistake which would hurt Americans financially and biologically for years to come.

References

1. The High Cost and Diminishing Returns of a Border Wall. (2019, September 7). Retrieved from https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/cost-of-border-wall.
2. Su, H., Qu, L.-J., He, K., Zhang, Z., Wang, J., Chen, Z., & Gu, H. (2003). The Great Wall of China: a physical barrier to gene flow? The Great Wall of China: a Physical Barrier to Gene Flow?, 1–6. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/6800237
3. U.S. Government Accountability Office, “Southwest Border Security: CBP Is Evaluating Designs and Locations for Border Barriers but Is Proceeding Without Key Information,” GAO-18-614 (Washington, DC: 2018), 11, https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/693488.pdf. Department of Homeland Security, 2017, Explanation of Changes https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/FY%202017%20Congressional%20Budget%20Justification%20-%20Volume%201_1.pdf
4. Salt, A., & Salthttp, A. (2016, July 27). How important is gene flow? ‘ Botany One. Retrieved November 3, 2019, from https://www.botany.one/2014/06/important-gene-flow/.

Abstract

Walls or barriers have been built all over the world throughout history to deter illegal immigration and to divide territory. With territories being so well defined the need to build a structure to show ownership is not necessary in these days and times. In the past it may have been needed due to the party’s unawareness of where one’s land began and ended. It has only recently again become an issue in the for front of people’s mind due to the migration of immigrants all over the world. Would a wall separating the U.S. Mexico border really deter immigrants from crossing into the U.S.? This paper will define what an immigrant is and how many are currently living in the United States. It will also show that crossing over into the U.S. from Mexico is actually more dangerous for the immigrant then it is for the border agents protecting the border. Is the cost of the wall worth the protection/division it provides? Does a wall mean unwillingness to aid or accept others from others countries? Does the site of a wall or knowledge that a wall is there really have an effect on the immigrants thinking of crossing over?

Border Wall & Consequences

During the World War II there was fewer than 5 walls in the entire world (source 1). When the Berlin wall fell in 1989 there was 15 walls in the world (source 1). Today there is about 70 walls across the world (source 1). The Great Wall of China which is 13,00 miles long is usually the prime example people use to show how effective walls are. However, just a few decades after construction the wall failed to keep people out and was over run (source 1). Since the fall of the Great Wall of China section of it have been rebuilt to use as tourist attractions (section 1). Other countries have their own walls suck as India-Bangladesh. This wall is a barbed wire 1,700 miles long (source 8). Berlin wall was built between 1961-1989 and fell in 1990 (source 8). Israel west bank has a 400mile long 20ft high wall (source 8). Saudi Arabia has its own 550mile long wall (source 8). The 450mile long barbed wire fence in Finland was made to keep reindeers from crossing into Russia (source 8). These are to name just a few and not all of them were built to keep people out but most were. A wall is seen as a form of protection to the countries on the inside of the wall.

When we in the U.S. speak of immigrants, illegal or legal, we naturally think of Mexicans who have crossed over the border. However, this is not always the case. There are 44 million immigrants living in the United States as of 2016 (source 1). Of those 44 million only 11.6 are Mexican (Source 1). Most recently the violence in Central American has brought more than Mexican’s to the U.S. Mexico border. The definition as per Webster’s dictionary of immigrant is as follows:

“one that immigrates: such as

• a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence
• a plant or animal that becomes established in an area where it was previously unknown”.

With this definition you can see that an immigrant is anything or anyone who moves from one location to and unknow location. For Mexican’s or other’s from Central American the moving to one location to another is from their home country to the U.S. to better their lives and the lives of their families. In 2016 69% of the immigrants older than 16 were in the working force (source 6).

There is 1,300 miles still left to be fenced up on the U.S. Mexico border (source 1). The estimated cost to finish the wall is 21.6 billion (source 5). The cost is extremely high and according to our president is well worth the cost to protect the U.S. from illegals who would come here and commit crimes against its citizen’s. According to an article by Kevin Diaz the wall that is the topic of so much debate will not deter immigrants from Central America from coming and attempting to cross (source 7). These immigrants according to this article written for the Houston Chronicle just walk right up to the fence and just wave to the cameras. The immigrants know they will be detained and given a court date (source 7). To immigrants escaping violence and possible death the wall and all the extra agents guarding the wall as well are not a deterrent to not come and attempt to cross legally or illegally. The immigrants see no other way of surviving but to make the 2000-mile journey to the U.S. In 2015 there was 5,604 deaths of illegal immigrants crossing the border (source 1) and between 2003-2017 there was 33 deaths of border patrol agents in the line of duty (source 4). These are only deaths. The fact is that some illegal immigrants are found and saved by border agents. There have been illegal immigrants left in tractor trailers to die, left in the desert, and some are left in the Rio Grande River to die as well (source 3). With all these risks the immigrants take it would seem that this wall is just one more obstacle that they are willing to take on.

The risk is also not an issue for those who do not cross illegally. For the immigrants who flee and are requesting asylum in the United States they are in this country legally and do not face the same risks those crossing illegally do. Yet still these immigrants are included in the immigrant head count. Between the years 2008-2014 the number of undocumented immigrants declined (source 5). There is also a documented number of over stayers in this country who have who came in the country on temporary visas and legal methods and just never left (source 5). These immigrants would now be counted as illegal immigrants and as of 2015 accounted for 4.5 million but would not have faced the challenge of crossing the border wall (source 5). Asylum was granted to about 20,500 and is about 28 percent of those that applied (source 9). Those who do request asylum are detained at any border due to the 1996 IIR and IRA Act (source 9).

It seems that with the wall not really proving any extra security to our border patrol agents as shown with so little deaths while on the job, not being a deterrent to immigrants that are fleeing for their lives, and so many undocumented immigrants here from over staying their legal entry to this country, the wall seems like a waste of money. The wall would only make sense if it was preventing most of the undocumented entries and saving lives of those whose job it is to protect the border. The wall sounds good in theory but history shows us that walls are over run when the need for life is greater than the dangers of crossing it.

Furthermore, building the wall it’s an idea too good to believe it’s ridiculous. For all means constructing this wall could hurt the economy of the United States real bad and build up other consequences that could disrupt the environment. According to (source 10) it explains us how building this wall could effect or could be destructive to the natural habitat, according to “ Bob Dreher an attorney who heads Defenders of wildlife conservation programs.” There are six potential impacts that this wall could create for the environment according to (source 10). One of them is threatening the diverse of landscaping from the Gulf of Mexico in Texas to the Pacific Ocean in California. Which California is one of the nations with most diverse landscape. This wall can divide into two the geographic range of 1,506 native animals and plants which includes 62 species that are listed as critically endangered. Constructing a wall like this it increases the soil erosion. This can cause risk for people and animals by trapping their escape because this alter the natural water flows and patterns of wildlife.

Additionally, another disrupt environmental that can be cause would be creating a problem when it get’s flooded. This wall can exacerbate the flood problems. Like in Arizona when they built the 700 miles fence. On rainy seasons the barriers acted as dams, which cause many floods and millions of dollars in property damage. This border fence that Arizona had built was cause of three floods that are reported in (source10). In 2008 when a 90-minute summer storm causing water to pool to 2 to 7 feet high. In 2011 another flood in Organ Pipe which had knocked a segment of fence and in 2014 in twin cities of Nogales the border barriers where clogged with debris during a rainstorm.

The third consequence is that the wall can put in serious danger to wildlife and plants. We would be disconnecting to 346 different wildlife species. This could raise the risk to their survival by shrinking and cutting off animal populations and limiting their ability to get food, water or even mate. With this wall we can be trapping wildlife from natural disaster like fires and floods. For some several animals like the bighorn sheep that roams from California and Mexico this wall would disrupt their seasonal migration by affecting access to water and birthing sites. Also, the border already has fragmented the population of the Sonoran pronghorn and has diminished the chances or re-establishing the Mexican gray wolf, jaguars and ocelots on the range of the United States.

Dividing the Rio Grande River would affect people that control the lands. For example, they would have to give control over the lands and isolate property and homes. Some of these people are U.S. citizens that live on the Mexican side of the wall. I mean this could cause a problem for these people because they mostly dedicate themselves in agriculture. If their properties or lands are ceded how else would they maintain themselves what would they get in exchange or is it worth what they are getting in exchange. It is said that congress had already approved up to 1.6 billion of dollars for the wall that it mostly going to be built in Texas. That supposed it’s going to be 25 miles of wall on flood control level in Hidalgo County.

Other consequence it would be the disrupting of wildlife refuge and parks. If this wall is built they would have to located through seven Texas wildlife conservations or wildlife parks. This includes the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge and one of the best lower 48 park which is the Big Bend National Park. Furthermore this wall would also affect the National Butterfly Center. There’s about 200 butterfly species in this center and the wall would place up to 70 percent on the Mexican side due to the wall needing to divide 100 acres sanctuary. Also because of some several ferocious objections Homeland security has also plan to build the wall through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo Tx. In this refuge there’s about 400 different birds, banded armadillos and endangered wildcats.

I don’t know much about this but the construction of the wall is also disrupting Environmental Oversight Laws. Such as Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Act Policy Act, Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act. This act where passed by the congress back in 2005 in response to 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Again according to (source 10) this would be the 6 ways the border wall could disrupt the environment.

In conclusion, I believe that this wall is an absolute catastrophe idea it affect mankind, wildlife, plants, trees, water or we can say every natural habitat that the wall can disrupts. It’s a lot of money that is going to be waste when people can still be able to accomplish to cross the wall for one drug lords wont keep their hand tied they would start building more tunnels and that also be use to traffic immigrants. Or like the secretary of Barack Obama said, “Show me a 50-foot wall, and ill show you a 51-foot ladder.”

References

1. Jones, R. (2016, October 5). Migrations Policy Institute. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/borders-and-walls-do-barriers-deter-unauthorized-migration?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqaPPqNjm4AIVAghpCh28lwOwEAAYBCAAEgI5ovD_BwE
2. Merriam Webster. (n.d.). Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immigrant
3. Homeland Security. (2018, July 19). Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.dhs.gov/news/2018/07/19/perils-illegal-border-crossing
4. Nowrasteh, A. (2017, November 27). CATO INSTITUE. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.cato.org/blog/border-patrol-agent-deaths-line-duty
5. Warren, R., & Erwin, D. (n.d.). CENTER FOR MIGRATION STUDIES. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from http://cmsny.org/publications/jmhs-visa-overstays-border-wall/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqr25y_fm4AIVwrfACh3DUQ8CEAAYAiAAEgId1PD_BwE
6. Zong, J., Batalova, J., & Hallock, J. (2018, February 8). Migration Policy Institute . Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwcrVhd3m4AIVhEJpCh0w7QqREAAYASAAEgLnkvD_BwE#Mexican
7. DIAZ, K. (2019, January 17). HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Why-a-Texas-border-wall-won-t-deter-Central-13541575.php
8. Hjelmgaard, K. (2018, May 24). USA TODAY. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/05/24/border-walls-berlin-wall-donald-trump-wall/553250002/
9. Cepla, Z. (2019, January 10). NATIONAL IMMAGRATION FORUM. Retrieved March 2, 2019, from https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-u-s-asylum-process/
10. Parker, L. (2019, January 10). NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Retrieved March 6, 2019, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/how-trump-us-mexico-border-wall-could-impact-environment-wildlife-water/

The history of the wall which divides the United States and Mexico is quite major. The wall was created in 1848, but back then there was only a barbed wire that kept the Mexican cattle away from American crops. “After some time, George W. Bush, Obama and President Clinton started building a more sizable wall. Combined they are responsible for 97% of the wall (Jean Guerrero 2017).”

The wall should not be built because of the cost and the harmful things it does to people and animals. For example, the building of America’s border wall between Mexico and the United States has a negative impact on people’s lives. “The wall affects jobs and investments. The wall will also affect the jobs of border guards, doctors and drug dealers. An informal survey revealed, that the wall is an bad investment (Heather Long 2019)”. “For example, when the people get sick from the drugs they have to go to the hospital so that cycle helps the people get cured, it also gives the hospital money and hire more employees(Deepak Chopra 2017)” Trump said , “Mexico will pay for the wall.” ,which will not happen because Mexicans want to go in the U.S. so building a wall will not be a good deal for them. “Also, medical care is more important than a wall because viruses are spreading all over the U.S. and people are dying. (Hayoun Massoud 2017)”

Research confirms,that animals are also a source of threat in this topic.The amount of money spend on the wall is way too much for just a border wall. There is no way that Mexico would pay for the wall because Mexicans take out money from the U.S. so technically it would be a good deal for Mexico not to build a wall. Border guards could be a cheaper option and won’t be easily contaminated. Mexicans also build tunnels under the wall and smuggle drugs. Also, Instead of America paying “20 billion dollars for the wall they can put the money into medical care for U.S.A. So If you pay 20 billion dollars into a wall you won’t get out anything but instead if you pay less to get border guards and free medical you get something out of it. So all of this also equals up to a problem for animal migration and landscapes start to erode(Kate Drew 2017) ,(David Bier 2016).”

Solutions to these problems can be found , but how I have all the information why or how the wall will not be built. First, Nancy Pelosi is a democrat and a congresswomen who is in charge of giving money for the national emergency and she is the one who can block the agreement and stop Trump from building the wall. Congress or the parliament will receive the national emergency and people will vote and the wall will not be build because the fee that has to be payed is too high and the government will reject it. Mexico is stealing the wall surely but slowly. But first they are stealing the concertina wire and then they will destroy the whole barrier.

As you can see the wall affects a lot of things and could hurt the investments, people and there are solutions to how to stop the wall. Lastly, you have to agree what a threat this could be for everything and everyone.

Work Cited

1. “AMERICA’S WALL.” America’s Wall, border.inewsource.org/. https://border.inewsource.org/
2. Chopra, Deepak, et al. “Trump’s Border Wall with Mexico Will Kill U.S. Jobs, Business, Environment: Chopra.” MarketWatch, 10 Aug. 2017, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-deepak-chopra-opposes-trumps-mexican-bord Er-wall-2017-08-10 Grenoble, Ryan, and Ryan Grenoble. “Mexicans Are Stealing Border Wall Materials, Using
3. Them For Home Security.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 20 Mar. 2019, www.huffpost.com/entry/border-wall-stolen-tijuana-home-security_n_5c9291bbe4b08c4fec33b5f4.
4. Hayoun, Massoud. “How Trump’s Wall Is Affecting Those at the Borders.” US-Mexico Border | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 2 Mar. 2017, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/02/trump-wall-affecting-borders-170221114525204.html.
5. Holpuch, Amanda. “What Exactly Is Trump’s Border Wall and Why Does He Want $5.7bn for It?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 15 Jan. 2019, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/15/trump-mexico-border-wall-status-migrants.
6. Kate Drew, special to CNBC.com. “This Is What Trump’s Border Wall Could Cost.” CNBC, CNBC, 26 Jan. 2017, www.cnbc.com/2015/10/09/this-is-what-trumps-border-wall-could-cost-us.html.
7. Parker, Laura. “6 Ways the Border Wall Could Disrupt the Environment.” National Geographic, 10 Jan. 2019,
8. Simon, Johnny, and Johnny Simon. “To Understand Trump’s Immigration Speech, Look at the US-Mexico Border as It Exists Today.” Quartz, Quartz, 10 Jan. 2019, qz.com/1517907/what-the-us-mexico-border-wall-actually-looks-like-right-now/.
9. www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/how-trump-us-mexico-border-wall-could-impact-environment-wildlife-water/.

The border wall with Mexico is a hot topic since 2014 and especially in 2016. Our president Donald Trump wants to build a wall between the Mexico and United States border. This border wall came up in late 2014, from governors. It is a huge wall where Republicans are hoping if they build it, they would be able to stop illegal immigrants. The Republicans asking for almost 6 billion dollars for the border wall (Doherty 31-33). In reality since 2007 10 billion dollars has been spent on the border wall (Goldstein). Just because of the money that is needed to build the wall, the government was shut down twice. It is a huge amount of money, and the Democratic won’t pass it and they are right. Passing this or accepting his request can cost others a lot. The government should spend that money on something that is really necessary, things like health insurance, Education, and environment.

Health insurance is something that is really important for us to have it in case something happens. Without health insurance we will be not able to pay for all those bills and medicines that are coming for the hospital so, it is important to get one or have one. But unfortunately, many people do not have health insurance because it too expensive. 28 million people are uninsured in United States (Berchick). This is a huge amount of people with no health insurance and the only reason for this is that it is expensive, and people have to pay other bills to. The money that the government want to spend on the wall can help the government to help some uninsured people if not all. Most of the young people are uninsured because the have low income and also the have to pay for collage which is a bog amount of money and also to other things like car insurance, bills, rent, and many other things. Just visiting the hospital can cost anywhere from 200 to thousands which some of us can’t afford it and majority of people live paycheck to paycheck. Some countries are providing free health care and if they can do that, we are sure our government can do the same. The health insurance is expansive the government should either make it cheaper or provide it free, if not for all people just for those who have low income. One other thing the government can do is that the should raise the wages so that way people can afford all the necessary things.

Education is also one of those important and expensive things in our life that many of us lifted behind for some reasons. We have so many ungraduated college students or unattended. One of the main reasons is that it is too expensive for many of us to afford it, and for this reason we choose to not go at all. It’s hard to work and study at the same time and it’s also impossible to not work and study because we have to pay for classes and other expansive. According to (Levaux) about 83 % people said thy cant afford collage. That’s like about all the Americans who cannot afford paying for collage and complete their studies. In other countries people don’t have to pay for collage because it’s all free which it made it easy for their students to study and focus on collage. In America once you turn 18 you have to pay for everything like rent, insurance, internet, and many other things which can’t help the students at all. all these bills and insurance get them so busy in the work that they actually can’t find any time to get to collage and focus on their future.

Environment is getting from worst to worst day by day and it is really important to be taken care as soon as possible. Plastics are the most harmful things for the sea animals and many of the sea animals have lost their life and still they are. According to ( Parker) about 8 millions metrics tones of plastics ends up in the oceans every year. It’s really a huge amount and each year we put more sea animals in dangers, this is bad for us as well. When you go to beach you can find out so much trash and no one will pick them up. So for this we need to hire more people and to clean them up. To do this we will need more money and they government should spend the wall money on the environment to make it better. If we take care of the environment now that means we are taking care of the future which is a good thing.

Now there are some good reasons and benefits of stopping illegal immigrants. By building the wall some crimes will be gone, drugs, murder, and other things that are happening in the country. According to (Trump 14) when immigrants come illegally to the United States, they are not just the good people, there are also bad folks among them. We should not let criminals inside our country, and we should stop them no matter what it takes even if we need to build the wall. Criminals are coming through the border and if we make the wall there, there won’t be any other way for them to come in and the wall is a good idea. Each year thousands of criminals are coming to United States and each year the amount of crimes are going up. So therefor the border wall with Mexico is necessary and needed we should make is soon.

In conclusion the Republicans should not spending the money on the border wall, and they should spend it on something that is more necessary and needed. By spending the money on something else, it will solve our problems and put us in a better place. With all that money, we are able to make our environment better and also have a better climate. We can really help some homeless people and make their lives better which is good for us and for our country. So many people are in need of medical insurance and we can provide it to them with all that money. Put some more money in to federal aid and pay for more student so that way they would have more time to study and not work. There are so many other better things that we can do with all that money instead of just building a wall and which is not necessary.

Introduction to the Border Wall Debate

Is building a wall along the United States Mexican border necessary to make America great again? According to Donald Trump, a wall is the solution to stopping undocumented immigrants from coming into our country. Donald Trump said, “when Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best, they’re bringing drugs and crime. There are in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, and rapists” (Date). Immigration has been a controversy since 1924 when Congress first passed the law restricting immigration. While most Americans focus only on the negative aspects of immigration, they fail to consider the many positive outcomes. Border walls have triggered many to voice their opinions on whether the wall would solve illegal immigration or if it would lead to a total disaster. Although border walls could be a solution to stop a humanitarian crisis from occurring, border walls should not be constructed along the United States/Mexican border because it could harm the region’s diverse wildlife, affect the symbol that America portrays; liberty, and the purpose is simply unnecessary.

Environmental Impact: Threat to Biodiversity

Building a wall threatens to harm the region’s diverse wildlife between the United States/Mexico Border. Biologists stated that a wall would “destroy thousands of acres of habitat and halt the cross-border migration of dozens of animal species” (“Border Wall a Disaster for Texas, Scientists Warn”). The United States has a high biodiversity due to the Rio Grande which provides food and a living environment for wildlife. The Center for Biological Diversity estimated about ninety-three plant and animal species that would become highly affected from this barrier (“Border Wall a Disaster for Texas, Scientists Warn”). Many animals are already endangered. For instance, the ocelots, a common known rabbit that lives around the Rio Grande, are becoming extinct day by day due to a loss of habitat. Another concern is animal migration. Animals need to migrate to find food, a better living environment, and most importantly to breed. Separating wildlife from reaching the other side of where the barrier would stand would cause many plant and animal species to experience such problems. Building a wall would end many ecosystems and block animals from being able to complete their migration process. Therefore, Donald Trump should not follow through with building a wall along the United States/Mexico border because it would endanger the region’s diverse wildlife.

Symbolism of the Wall: From Liberty to Domination

The United States/Mexico border wall is known for having a frontier that establishes freedom, peace and promises of modern life for the rest of the world to emulate. James Madison also believed in the United States being a symbol of protection and individual liberty (Grandin). After centuries this frontier would finally become a myth. President Donald Trump’s idea of building a wall would enforce cruelty, domination and racism. His promise would become America’s new symbol/monument. Instead of peace there is endless war, and inequality that would portray this country as New York Times magazine explains (Grandin). The United States would be unseen as the American Dream that others see it as, which would eventually cause a decrease in a population/diverse economy. Maintaining a diverse economy is important for the United States because it gives a more cultural experience with other countries and regulates business/free-trade in the United States. Free-trade is a process in which companies receive goods from other countries, whether it is food or materials used on a daily basis. A wall would symbolize the opposite of what this country is known for and would become an issue for the rest of the world to emulate.

Ineffectiveness and Unintended Consequences

Donald Trump’s border wall is simply useless and ineffective. The cost to build a wall is sustainably high while immigration issues would only become minimum. An article issued by USA Today was stated that in the past decade, the population of undocumented immigrants has fallen from twelve million to eleven million (“Trump’s Border Wall Will be Pointless and Ineffective”). Why provide a barrier to stop undocumented immigrants from coming into the country when the issue has minimized in the past few years. The United States/Mexico border is a hostile place and more effective than any man-made barrier (“Trump’s Border Wall Will be Pointless and Ineffective”). Border patrol officials would contain more access to stop illegal trafficking and is less expensive. Which is indeed true, border patrol does what they can to protect the United States. Building a wall would only cause a harsh situation to handle for border officials. Border patrols in Ambos Nogales, a city only a few miles North, has stated how hiring officers with welding experience was necessary to repair holes done by smugglers (Politzer). Smugglers would also dig tunnels under the wall for the same purpose of transporting drugs and undocumented immigrants into the United States. A wall will not fix immigration nor drug problems that have happened in the United States. This barrier is simply unnecessary and should not be constructed.

Another reason the border wall would become useless and ineffective is that it would provide an easy back door into America for both terror groups and drug cartels. They would benefit off this barrier by smuggling in illegal weapons and drugs into the United States. Terror groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS are already known for taking millions of lives due to bombings. Why would we provide a wall that would benefit terror groups that could eventually cause harm for the United States? For instance, an event known as Nine-eleven where an islamic group hijacked four planes into the twin towers was a horrible tragedy that many people are afraid to experience once again. Simply because more than two-thousand people were murdered that day. Building a wall along the United States/Mexico border could provide terror groups easy access into America that could lead to another unexpected bombing like Nine-eleven. As for drug cartels, a barrier would increase their profits, strengthening criminal networks. In an article researchers stated that smugglers see the wall as a quaint distraction, because it has little practical application in a world where they harness the latest technology to move drugs and people into the United States (Driver). Drug cartels would benefit and use the wall as a distraction to import drugs not only into the United States but also into the youths hands. Donald Trump fails to realize how a barrier is useless and ineffective for this country.

Some people will say that building a wall along the United States/Mexico border is necessary because border patrol does not have full operational control for this country. Border patrol needs to know who and what is coming into this country to be able to protect it. The United States Homeland Security stated there is a humanitarian and national crisis at the United States/Mexico border that cannot be ignored (Nielsen). Drugs that have been smuggled are deadly and have killed thousands of people each year. People face a humanitarian catastrophe and receive new medical issues every day due to these unknown drugs. More than fifty cases have been reported over these medical issues (Nielsen).Border patrol has also stated how more than thirty percent of women have been reported sexually assaulted and seventy percent of all migrants reported violence, but that is not all (Nielsen).

Alternative Solutions and the True Essence of America

According to Donald Trump the main purpose of the border wall is to stop the flood of illegal immigrants from pouring into the country. Donald Trump tends to build a wall to keep out these undocumented immigrants because they are just a bunch of criminals. There are about four million immigration criminals roaming the United States and yet America does not do much about it as Trump stated in an article (Johnson). Congress also believes that a wall is what this country needs and Democrats know it. Border security has become an issue and people do not notice it. Despite all the facts provided, a wall along the United States/Mexico border would not be a great solution for the United States. There are many other ways to illegal trafficking in the United States. A prime example would be deportation. Deporting illegal immigrants would have a bigger impact on the United States rather than building a wall. People have stated actions speak louder than walls simply because a wall is just an unnecessary tool (Johnson). The wall would only indicate a symbol of racism and only people who are racist, heartless and ignorant towards political purposes support this action. A wall is not the route the President of the United States should be taking. Instead, the President should be finding better ways to fix these problems he believes we are facing.

Conclusion: Rethinking the Wall

Making America great again does not require a wall between the United States/Mexico border. Ever since Donald Trump made a promise in 2015 that stated how a wall is indeed needed in order to fulfill America’s needs; has certainly weakened. America does not need a wall to resolve situations such as undocumented immigrants, drug cartels and criminals. A wall would only cause harm to the region’s diverse wildlife, affect the symbol that America portrays; liberty, and the purpose is simply unnecessary. While it is true that a wall could stop humanitarian crisis from occurring, it could also damage America’s frontier. A wall is not a solution, it is a barrier that would lead this country into a total disaster.

Works Cited

1. ‘Border Wall a Disaster for Texas, Scientists Warn.’ Environment News Service, 02 Apr 2018. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2258145980?accountid=7015.
2. Date, Ian SchwartzOn. “Trump: Mexico Not Sending Us Their Best; Criminals, Drug Dealers And Rapists Are Crossing Border.” RealClearPolitics, https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2015/06/16/trump_mexico_not_sending_us_their_best_criminals_drug_dealers_and_rapists_are_crossing_border.html.
3. Driver, Alice. ‘Trump’s Mexico Wall would be a Gift to the Drug Cartels.’ CNN Wire Service, 08 Jan 2018. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265384035?accountid=7015
4. Grandin, Greg. ‘The Insidious Myth of the Border Wall.’ New York Times, 21 Feb 2019. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2266168908?accountid=7015.
5. Johnson, Mac. ‘The U.S. Government Must Get Serious About Deporting Those Who Are Here Illegally.’ Illegal Immigration, edited by Debra A. Miller, Greenhaven Press, 2007. Current Controversies. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://kidd.blinn.edu:4425/apps/doc/EJ3010499229/OVIC?u=txshracd2489&sid=OVIC&xid=8892be1a. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019. Originally published as ‘Immigration Reform Will Fail Without Deportation,’ Human Events, 8 May 2006.
6. Nielsen, Kirstjen. ‘Opposing View: We Face a Humanitarian and Security Crisis.’ USA TODAY, 10 Jan 2019. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264363928?accountid=7015.
7. Politzer, Malia. ”it’s our Job to Stop that Dream’.’ Reason, 04 2007. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2263235915?accountid=7015.
8. ‘Trump’s Border Wall Will be Pointless and Ineffective.’ USA TODAY, 10 Oct 2017. sirsissuesresearcher, http://kidd.blinn.edu:2048/login?url= https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264357207?accountid=7015.