Today’s government of the United States has to deal with a wide range of issues concerning both domestic and foreign policy. The fight against illegal immigration has always been one of the major problems of the USA. In 1994, the government started to construct the Great Wall between Mexico and the United States to reduce the immigration rate. Today, the barrier length is near 1000 km (620 miles) with the total length of the official border of 3200 km (2000 miles) (Delano). For some, the wall seems to be a solution to the illegal immigration problem. Donald Trump has made the wall a significant part of his presidential campaign back in November of 2016. His eagerness for the USA to get back control of its borders is still the topic of discussion. People keep arguing if the barrier is a solution to the problem. In the essay, I will debate on the policy chosen by today’s US government, concerning the construction of the US-Mexican wall, and current results: US-Mexico relations, the wall costs, and human rights problem.
Some state that the wall helps to improve the relations with Mexico. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “the Border 2020 Program has established a strong alliance between our two countries” (United States Environmental Protection Agency par. 1). At the same moment, the TV channels and news websites inform us about Trump’s intention to make Mexico pay for the wall, which is likely to chill the relations rather than establish an alliance. Besides, the suggestion to raise tariffs on Mexican imports up to 20% also conflicts with the idea of a strong alliance. As a result, by attempting to solve one problem, today’s government acquired another: deterioration in the US-Mexican relations.
Another subject for discussion within the today’s government policy towards the wall between the USA and Mexico is the cost of the project. Many experts agree that construction of such a large-scale object is an extremely expensive, labor- and resource-consuming process. The government has already paid over seven billion dollars for the fencing, and the costs seem to increase in the future: Trump’s plan to cover the entire border requires to extend the wall into mountains (BBC News). However, in his recent statement, Trump changed his direction and noticed that “U.S.-Mexico frontier may not need to cover the entire border because of existing natural barriers” (Rascoe par. 1). This fact proves that the initial idea to cover the entire border appeared to be not thoroughly thought out, and the government has to incorporate some changes to its plans.
The last but not least factor by which I am going to evaluate today’s government policy is the actual condition of the illegal immigration problem, and to be exact, the human rights problem surrounding the immigration reforms. The United States “militarized the border to secure and protect the country from undocumented migrants and drugs” (McGuire 469). This move seems to be a logical decision. Although, not many people are aware of the “human rights crisis” on the US-Mexico border (Androff and Tavassoli 165). According to Androff and Tavassoli, migrants die and get injured while crossing the desert and mountains, get abused in immigration detention, and are prosecuted through mass hearings (165). These events appear to be some sort of price that Mexico pays for the USA attempt to get back the control of its borders. On top of that, some people believe that instead of keeping the migrants out, the wall will keep them from coming back home. This demonstrates that the USA policy did not consider the possible human problems.
From my perspective, the USA policy concerning the illegal migration issue is failing. To be exact, I think that the barrier is failing to play the role of a solution to the problem. The government authorities are motivated by solely political consideration: the eagerness to stop unauthorized immigration. At the same time, they forget to consider the human factor. Sheer force historically has proved to be not the best solution to a problem, and the wall has not brought great results yet. By attempting to raise tariffs on Mexican imports and make Mexico pay for the wall, Trump sabotaged the relations with it. By order to cover the entire border with a barrier, the US government has wasted too much money. Finally, by mistreating migrants, the government has damaged its reputation. I suggest that more humane and thought out reforms should be implemented as the migration problem surely is not going to be solved by simply constructing the barrier.
Thus, one can conclude that the direction chosen by today’s government towards the fight with illegal immigration seems to raise questions. Construction of the US-Mexican wall does not show positive results: the relationship between the USA and Mexico remains strained, expenses for the construction works keep growing, and the immigration rate has not reduced much. I believe that the policy requires the incorporation of significant changes.
Works Cited
Androff, David K., and Kyoko Y. Tavassoli. “Deaths in the Desert: The Human Rights Crisis on the U.S.-Mexico Border.” Social Work, vol. 57, no. 2, 2012, pp. 165-173.
BBC News. “Donald Trump’s Mexico Wall: Who is Going to Pay for It?” BBC News, 2017, Web.
Delano, James W. “This is What the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall Actually Looks Like.” National Geographic, 2016, Web.
McGuire, Randall H. “Steel Walls and Picket Fences: Rematerializing the U.S.-Mexican Border in Ambos Nogales.” American Anthropologist, vol. 115, no. 3, 2013, pp. 466-480.
Rascoe, Ayesha. “Trump Says Wall May Not Need to Cover Entire U.S.-Mexico Border.” Reuters, 2017, Web.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. “Border 2020 Highlights Report (2016).” US EPA, Web.