Just one week in office, President Trump is already following through on his
pledge to address illegal immigration. His January 25th executive order called
for the construction of a wall along the entire length of the US-Mexico border.
While he is right to focus on the issue, there are several reasons why his
proposed solution will unfortunately not lead us anywhere closer to solving
the problem.
First, the wall will not work. Texas already started building a border fence
about ten years ago. It divided people from their own property across the border,
it deprived people of their land through the use of eminent domain, and in
the end the problem of drug and human smuggling was not solved.
Second, the wall will be expensive. The wall is estimated to cost between
12 and 15 billion dollars. You can bet it will be more than that. President
Trump has claimed that if the Mexican government doesn't pay for it, he will
impose a 20 percent duty on products imported from Mexico. Who will pay this
tax? Ultimately, the American consumer, as the additional costs will be passed
on. This will of course hurt the poorest Americans the most.
Third, building a wall ignores the real causes of illegal border crossings
into the United States. Though President Trump is right to prioritize the problem
of border security, he misses the point on how it can be done effectively and
at an actual financial benefit to the country rather than a huge economic drain.
The solution to really addressing the problem of illegal immigration, drug
smuggling, and the threat of cross-border terrorism is clear: remove the welfare
magnet that attracts so many to cross the border illegally, stop the 25 year
US war in the Middle East, and end the drug war that incentivizes smugglers
to cross the border.
The various taxpayer-funded programs that benefit illegal immigrants in the
United States, such as direct financial transfers, medical benefits, food assistance,
and education, cost an estimated $100 billion dollars per year. That is a significant
burden on citizens and legal residents. The promise of free money, free food,
free education, and free medical care if you cross the border illegally is
a powerful incentive for people to do so. It especially makes no sense for
the United States government to provide these services to those who are not
in the US legally.
Likewise, the 40 year war on drugs has produced no benefit to the American
people at a great cost. It is estimated that since President Nixon declared
a war on drugs, the US has spent more than a trillion dollars to fight what
is a losing battle. That is because just as with the welfare magnet, there
is an enormous incentive to smuggle drugs into the United States.
We already know the effect that ending the war on drugs has on illegal smuggling:
as more and more US states decriminalize marijuana for medical and recreational
uses, marijuana smuggling from Mexico to the US has dropped by 50 percent from
2010.
Finally, the threat of terrorists crossing into the United States from Mexico
must be taken seriously, however once again we must soberly consider why they
may seek to do us harm. We have been dropping bombs on the Middle East since
at least 1990. Last year President Obama dropped more than 26,000 bombs. Thousands
of civilians have been killed in US drone attacks. The grand US plan to “remake”
the Middle East has produced only misery, bloodshed, and terrorism. Ending
this senseless intervention will go a long way toward removing the incentive
to attack the United States.
I believe it is important for the United States to have secure borders, but
unfortunately President Trump's plan to build a wall will end up costing a
fortune while ignoring the real problem of why people cross the borders illegally.
They will keep coming as long as those incentives remain.
