Stop Building the Border Wall, a Sign of Division

Published in Chunichi Shimbun
(Japan) on 1 February 2018
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Deborah Chapin. Edited by Margaret Dalzell.
The leader who stirred up divisions in society appealed to the people for unity; this was President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address. If that's the case, he should stop construction of the Mexican border wall, because walls are symbols of division and exclusion.

Trump introduced families that he had invited to the speech whose children whose murders were connected to illegal immigrants. This was to emphasize that the wall is needed because the immigration system has allowed for drugs and gangs to invade the United States.

The Trump administration put forth an immigration reform proposal that opens the way to citizenship for approximately 1.8 million young people called "Dreamers,"* who were illegally brought to the country by their parents when they were children.

This proposal would revise the system to delay deportation for "Dreamers" set in place by the Obama administration, and would drastically increase the allotted amount from the original target of 800,000 people. In exchange, the proposal then seeks to require the Democrats to approve $25 million for the budget relating to the wall’s construction. The former administration permitted "Dreamers" to stay by executive order as a temporary step until a permanent law was established. It is understandable that Trump would begin work on legislation in Congress.

However, concerning cost-effectiveness, the reason for the wall is weak. In a report released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the end of the year, the number of illegal immigrants during the 2017 fiscal year (October 2016-September 2017) was the lowest on record. There were about 300,000 people detained at the Mexican border, a sharp decrease from the 2000 fiscal year when there were about 1.64 million. Trump declared his intention to invest $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending from both public and private funds. This is a 50 percent increase from the original mark. In addition, according to one estimate, a $1 trillion deficit will pile up in a decade due to the large-scale tax break that Trump boasts of as actual results. This is comparable to Japan’s national budget. It departs from financial discipline.

Even so, Trump is fixated on the wall, probably because he thinks that keeping his promises will make him popular among his supporters. It was an election move that overlooked the irrationality of construction. The problem with the wall is that it invites the deterioration of the United States’ image, not only in Mexico, but also throughout Central and South America. China and Russia are widening their scope of influence by stitching themselves into that gap.

In his speech, Trump asserted that we are all one family.This is because the implementation of his public promises requires nonpartisan cooperation. If he truly wishes to promote national harmony, then he should first put forth great effort to repair the fissure in society that he caused.

*Editor’s Note: Though a popular term, “Dreamer” is an inaccurate way to describe recipients under the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program. The DREAM Act – Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors – was a federal proposal that offered many of the same protections as DACA but was never approved by Congress.


あれだけ社会の分断をあおった指導者が国民に結束を訴えた。一般教書演説に臨んだトランプ米大統領だ。ならば、メキシコ国境の壁の建設をやめるべきだ。壁こそが分断と排斥の象徴なのだから。
 トランプ氏は不法移民によってわが子を殺害された遺族を演説会場に招いたことを紹介し、移民制度が「麻薬やギャングの侵入を許している」として壁建設の必要性を強調した。
 トランプ政権は幼少時に親に連れられて不法入国した「ドリーマー」と呼ばれる若者ら約百八十万人に、市民権獲得の道を開く移民制度改革案をまとめた。
 オバマ前政権が打ち出したドリーマーの強制送還を猶予する措置を改め、対象を現在の約八十万人から大幅に増やすものだ。
 それと引き換えに二百五十億ドル(約二兆七千二百億円)の壁の建設関連予算を認めるよう民主党に要求している。
 前政権は恒久法が制定されるまでの暫定措置として、行政命令によってドリーマーの滞在を認めてきた。トランプ政権が議会に立法化を働き掛けること自体は理解できる。
 ただし、壁は費用対効果からして意味が薄い。
 米税関・国境警備局が昨年末に出した報告書では、二〇一七会計年度(一六年十月~一七年九月)の不法入国者は過去最低を記録。メキシコ国境で拘束された人は約三十万人で、二〇〇〇会計年度の約百六十四万人から激減した。
 トランプ氏はインフラ投資に官民合わせて一兆五千億ドルを投じる意向も表明した。従来目標の五割増しである。
 加えて、トランプ氏が実績として誇る大型減税により、十年間で一兆ドルの赤字が積み上がるという試算もある。日本の国家予算に匹敵する規模だ。これでは財政規律が失われる。
 それでもトランプ氏が壁にこだわるのは、公約を守る姿勢こそが支持者受けすると判断しているのだろう。建設の非合理性を度外視した選挙対策である。
 壁の問題はメキシコばかりか中南米全域で米国のイメージ悪化を招いた。その間隙(かんげき)を縫って中国とロシアが影響力を広げている。
 トランプ氏は演説で「われわれは一つの家族だ」と訴えた。公約実現には超党派の協力が必要だからだろう。本当に国民融和を進めたいのなら、まずは自分が広げた社会の溝の修復に努力すべきだ。
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