The United States government should construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico Border

realdon_762

I contend that The United States should construct a wall on the Southern Border with Mexico.

First, I will define “wall” as a physical barrier, typified by the wall prototypes recently constructed.

The construction of a wall on the Southern Border is in the best interest of the United States for the following reasons:

1. Any nation has the right and responsibility to protect its people first. The United States, specifically, has a responsibility to prevent the crime, economic hardship, and other negative effects caused by illegal immigration. The preamble to the United States Constitution, the framework for the Federal Government, which lays out the responsibilities and powers of the same, states the following:

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity"

Illegal immigration tends to contradict every single goal of the federal government listed in the Preamble. Specifically:

• “In order to form a more perfect Union” Illegal immigration, people simply walking over our border with no connection or loyalty to our country (or even legal documentation), does not help the United States to form a more perfect union.

• “Establish Justice” Illegal immigration is unjust to American citizens and also legal immigrants by allowing people who have violated our laws to obtain benefits reserved for citizens, and to, in many cases, commit crimes (including crossing the border) without punishment.

• “Insure Domestic Tranquility” Illegal immigrants commit crime and harm the social fabric of our country due to the fact that they, to a large degree, do not speak the language nor subscribe to the principles of the United States.

• “Promote the General Welfare” The General Welfare refers to the welfare of the United States and its citizens. Illegal immigrants cost America tens of billions of dollars per year, not to mention the other negative effects of illegal immigration which are obviously not conducive to the general welfare.

• “Secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity” Illegal immigrants, by and large, do not, as shown by polls, believe in “liberty” as defined by our founders. Overwhelmingly, they support wealth redistribution and socialism. The blessings of liberty are intended for the “posterity” of America’s founders, not the entire world, and certainly not those who violate the law by illegally crossing the border.

2. Since the United States has a responsibility to protect its citizens by stopping illegal immigration, which is detrimental to American citizens, the federal government should use any and all legal and moral means which are prudent and effective. A border wall would be effective at stopping a large portion of illegal traffic on the Southern Border, and thereby saving, in the long run, billions of taxpayer dollars, not to mention American lives.

Obviously, a wall would not be constructed in isolation. Border patrol agents would monitor the area to prevent tunneling and attempts to cross the wall with ladders. This debate should not be about the pros and cons of various types of wall, simply on the desirability of building a wall in general. The government has engineers talented enough to properly design a wall to make it reasonably effective against virtually all foot and vehicle traffic. Israel, Hungary, and numerous other countries constructed walls or fences on their border, virtually ending illegal crossings. As shown by examples from those countries, properly constructed walls are highly effective at preventing illegal entry.

However, let’s assume for the purposes of argument that the wall would only stop HALF of all illegal immigration. (More likely, it would exceed 95%)

The total annual cost of illegal immigration, when the taxes paid by illegal immigrants are factored in, is somewhere around $99 billion. A wall would cost around $25-30 billion. Therefore, the wall would pay for itself in less than a year even if it stopped half of illegal immigration.

Since the United States has a responsibility to its citizens to prevent illegal immigration, and a physical wall is an important and proven part of preventing illegal immigration, the United States should construct a physical wall on the Southern Border with Mexico.