The Berlin Wall is the most recent wall the world has seen. While erected under differing circumstances than Trump’s proposed wall, a wall is a wall, intended to physically divide people.
The wall Donald Trump has proposed this election cycle would span 2,000 miles across the U.S-Mexico border and Trump says it would be paid for by the Mexican government. Believing that the Mexican government would fund such a massive undertaking is illogical; Bush’s Secure Fence Act in 2009 cost $2.4 billion and built around 700 miles of fence.
The Berlin Wall, spanning only 96 miles, cost roughly $200 million (adjusted for inflation). That being said, the cost for Trump’s Wall is nearly inconceivable.
America’s history has been defined by the massive waves of immigrants from across the globe who escape poor living conditions and immigrate here to enjoy a better life. A wall would contradict America’s foundation.
Closing ourselves off from one of the two other countries we directly touch would have international reverberations. Globally, it could cast us in an un-American light, depicting us as unwelcoming, cruel and hypocritical.
A wall could even deter business; many businesses today are taking their investments elsewhere if they don’t believe in the practices a state or country is partaking in.
Yes, fences are being erected across the European Union in response to over 1.3 million immigrants applying for asylum in 2015 alone. The U.S.-Mexico border is slightly different – roughly only 5,000 immigrants cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally each year.
History, through the Berlin wall and other walls, tells us that the unintended consequences could be insurmountable. We need to look beyond the direct effect of Trump’s wall.
Possibly one of the most famous walls throughout history has been the Great Wall of China. Dating back to nearly the 7th century B.C.E, the wall stretches over 13,000 miles. This wall was built to fend off attackers from areas north of China and was created to create a more prosperous China.
Trump’s wall wouldn’t come close to serving such a purpose (luckily) and would most likely not have such an effect on the U.S.
The arrogance that has supported this outrageous proposition reflects simply un-American sentiments. A great number of us are the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of an immigrant. They were immigrants that came here legally, but that may speak to the rigorous quota system that we have in place today for immigrants to become legal.
A Trump Presidency could come with a wall, but we are the barrier to Trump building that wall.
