On January 31, 2016, Mexico’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto, was scheduled to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border. President Trump stated that if they were not discussing Mexico paying for the wall, the meeting should not go on. This led to President Nieto completely cancelling the meeting. Currently, the US-Mexico border is 1,989 miles long and only 700 of those miles are fenced. The rest of the border is surrounded by natural terrain that follows the Rio Grande. Currently, the reason there is not a complete wall is because of the border treaty signed in the 70s, states that any fencing/walls could not disturb the flow of nature. This led to the gaps in the fences, secured by the border patrol.
Mexico is already feeling an economic breakdown with a historically low peso worth in the month of January. Building a wall would lead to a Mexican recession with soaring inflation and unemployment. President Trump is hinting at a trade war that would hurt Mexico more, considering its size as compared to the United States. America buys most of Mexico’s exports, including automobiles, agriculture goods, machinery, and fuels. In turn America would also suffer, losing thousands of jobs every year. Think about having to pay a 20 percent tax on our goods from Mexico, and think about exporting even less goods because Mexico can’t afford them either.
A big disturbance about the whole situation is that Mexico is receiving the backlash of years of immigration coming from different countries. While Mexicans were the most common immigrants to enter the United States, many other countries have people that flee their corrupt governments and civil wars and enter America to find better opportunities. Mexicans actually began to leave the US because of a weak economy and less job opportunities, so to say that Mexicans have taken our jobs is excusing ourselves from our pitiful effort in creating any. The number of illegal aliens that have entered the US in the past few years has actually been steady. A million people will cross the border on a daily basis. In San Ysidro, California, we can walk across a bridge and present our passports to enter Tijuana to enjoy the day or to conduct business. Mexican citizens will cross the border every day to work and to receive an education. While you do not personally see these things happening, they are. The reason the border is crossed and aliens with visas overstay their welcomes are because they are here to find the dream that they have heard so much about.
Every day, millions of goods will cross the border is both directions. Somehow, what we are worried about is the narcotics that can be smuggled into the US. America is filled with drug dealers and rapists that are not convicted, yet we will try to prevent a whole race from entering because they are obviously the problem. This will not only affect the trading of goods with Mexico, but this can also lead to new trade regulations with the rest of the world.
A wall can raise taxes and hurt an economy. A wall will hurt AMERICAN companies that have established businesses in Mexico. A wall can separate families who wanted a better future for their kids. It will halt education and business. It will not save jobs. It will hurt the children who were moved here at a young age for the sole purpose to obtain success. They are culturally American. So many people have embraced the American lifestyle, and to strip them of that is unrighteous, ignorant, and damaging. A wall will cause Americans to lose jobs, the United States to lose revenue, and the waste of time and money finding and deporting undocumented aliens.
This country was made from different races, therefore, it cannot strive from racism. Problems will continue to arise as long as we do not accept it. While we can make ourselves aware of the crimes committed by illegal aliens, this should not devalue the crimes of our own. Let us weigh the benefits and consequences of a wall to much more than just being American.