Not to sound callous but that is one of the things a wall or any type of truly defended border would prevent. No country on earth has open borders. That is part of the definition of a country. I am not in favor of the currently proposed boondoggle but I am not in favor of open borders either. Many people get confused about the difference. Trying to sneak into the U.S. by walking through the desert or packed in a load of cargo is dangerous and can kill you. It is dangerous trying to sneak into Mexico or, say, Australia by alternative means as well.
How well did that work for Berlin?
Fairly effectively for what it was designed to do. It isn’t a good comparison though. The U.S. and Mexico aren’t one city split in half due to the spoils of a world war. They are both sovereign nations and the border goes both ways. I don’t know why Mexico hasn’t been able to get its shit together at all despite having lots of natural resources, a strong culture and cities like Mexico City with plenty of wealth.
Mexico can’t just expect to export their poorest citizens to the U.S. to survive. They need to fix their own problems. Mexico is extremely hypocritical as well. They have a huge illegal immigration problem of their own coming in from the south from countries like Guatemala and they are extremely strict about it.
For the record, I don’t have anything against individual illegal immigrants. I would probably do the same thing myself if I were in their shoes. I have known many of them and most are hardworking and good people. However, you can’t run national policy that way. It doesn’t matter if your gardener Pedro and maid Maria are awesome people. You still have to have a comprehensive and legal immigration policy that applies to everyone.
I hate “The Wall” idea because it is just a distraction away from the real problem. What we really need is comprehensive immigration reform that includes serious fines and jail time for employers that ignore it. All we are doing today is supporting an exploitive, quasi-slave system for migrant workers that often work in horrible conditions and often get paid less than minimum wage with no recourse. I have no idea why so many people on the Left want to perpetuate it.
I was thinking the same thing.
What would stop Mexico from increase landing fees for Airliners coming from the US? I know that it may hurt the Mexican tourist industry than hurt the US, but some may not care if their airfare increased to vacation in Mexico. Most would not notice.
Tit for Tat.
I don’t think anybody on the Left wants to perpetuate it. However, comprehensive immigration reform, or even sort-of-half-assed immigration reform, hasn’t gained much traction at all, and if you’re not going to do that part of it, then all you’re doing is harming individual people without tackling the real problem. The Left is opposed to harming individual people without tackling the real problem.
“He who had not sinned…” and all that. Perhaps if the US did something about the hundreds or thousands of guns illegally entering Mexico every day, it’d be that much easier for them to fix their own problems.
Why would you create a civilian employment agency to pay laborers substantially less than market wages for construction work that the private sector is able to do far more efficiently? You’d just be driving fairly paid construction workers out of a job.
Well yeah, that’s the whole idea.
No, no…build the wall so that it’s much wider at the TOP than the bottom. That way, the Mexicans will fall back down onto the ground when they try to climb it!
I’m not an engineer either but, hey, it’s just COMMON SENSE.
Maybe we could have everyone go through the family toy box, and donate any stray legos that don’t really go with anything any more. We can build the wall together.
A mere concrete wall wouldn’t suffice; there has to be extensive monitoring and surveillance, probably cameras every few hundred meters, otherwise it would be a trivially easy thing to blow it up at one location and have people come through. I’d be surprised if this thing is completed for anything less than $50 billion.
Like I say, the Gov has to acquire much of the land and that process will take beyond the term of this presidency.
Substantively, it cannot happen unless Gov policy is consistent for a decade.
The way I see it, walls are built for climbing. So to stop that, you need guard towers every X feet. And then unless you just want the guards to be entertained watching people climb the wall through their binoculars, you have to give them weapons. It’s just stupid idea all the way around.
And you need a no-man’s land where shoot to kill is mandatory. Plus land mines and tripwires. Remote-controlled claymores. And a strip that is kept plowed so new footprints are visible. Vibration detectors for underground tunnels. And trigger-happy guards. Automatic anti-aircraft stations with night vision and searchlights – the kind that shoot first and ask questions…never.
It’s gonna be a grrrrreat wall, you bet!
Too bad they can’t get it done and paid for by El Chapo.
Then again, maybe its safer all around if El Chapo stays locked up. The Government doesn’t need a real live “Machette”…
When I first stumbled upon this, I though it was fake, a joke, a gag, a piece of sarcasm. Apparently not.
He’s sucking up to get a better price on F-35s.
I exchanged email with an Israeli who was being buddies with Huckabee. Essentially he didn’t care if Huckabee was goofy (vetoing an insurance bill in Arkansas because it had the phrase “Acts of God” in it, wanting Jews to return to Israel to bring about the last days for examples) as long as he would help Israel.
You can’t see me now, but I’m holding my head in my hands, rocking back and forth and moaning.
I’m not clear on the timing of building this wall as compared to Israel’s several military actions jnvolving Gaza. Anyone?