Stop Building the Border Wall, a Sign of Division

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.