Trump’s executive order started with racist myths that undocumented immigrants from Mexico are a major source of crime and terrorist acts. In fact, immigrants to the U.S., including Mexicans, are jailed at a rate one-fifth that of native-born Americans.
The executive order then goes on to order to begin planning and construction on a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. This wall will cost up to $20 billion and will need the Congress and Senate to allocate funds to build it. Trump has promised to make Mexico pay for the wall and part of the executive order is to report on U.S. foreign aid to Mexico. But even if the U.S. ended all aid to Mexico, it would take about 50 years to make up the cost of the wall. Furthermore, much if not most of the U.S. aid to Mexico is for anti-drug, anti-terror and military assistance which Trump claims to be concerned about.
The Fight Back article is worth reading in whole. It goes on to point out that The Wall has its roots in a 1996 bill, "Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act," signed by Bill Clinton.
TV Show Adam Ruins Everything has a succinct 2-minute video on why the wall would be a problem:
One thing that seems to be going rather quietly unacknowledged, from what I have read so far, is that this is a federal works program. Essentially a way for the federal government to engage in a massive public works program. The cost doesn't seem like the biggest problem because that is money that, presumably, will go mostly towards American workers. I am not sure who exactly would build the wall, perhaps it would be contracted out to a private company, in which case it might be that most of the money goes to the already-wealthy owners of the contracting company more than the workers, that would be in line with Drumpf's agenda so far.
That is not to say I favor building the wall at all, it just seems that the focus on the cost is a little odd, at least among left-wing critics, because government spending to stimulate the economy is generally a good thing. It is just that in this case, it is spending towards an inhumane program which is unlikely to achieve its stated ends.
Here is an article detailing the border-crossings the wall is attempting to quell. An excerpt:
In October, 46,195 people were caught attempting to illegally cross the Southwest border. That was up 17 percent from September, according to numbers released in November by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP.
Children, families and individuals continue to flee the violence of Central America making their way to the U.S. border. There has also been an increase in the numbers of people seeking asylum at the border.
The temporary, tented CBP facility, which was opened in Tornillo, Texas, 40 miles east of El Paso, can hold up to 500 people. It will be opened for 30 days, pending any changes in the volume of people entering the U.S. in that region illegally, according to CBP.
It sounds like there is some noteworthy legislation preceding and impacting the executive order, which the order at least partially uses as the basis for its justification: The 2006 Secure Fences Act, signed by George W. Bush, and the previously-referenced 1996 IIRIRA signed by Bill Clinton.
Also, economists generally say immigration, even massive immigration, is, overall, an economic boon to all involved. You can check out this exhaustive take on the issue, or this fun video by Crash Course:
No comments:
Post a Comment