The Great Wall of America between Mexico and the United States should not become built. I support this statement for several reasons. First, building such a wall will cost the United States vast amounts of money. Rogers explains that the wall will cost America over $40 billion (100). Rather than spending all this money in building the wall, the government should consider hiring extra security people and obtaining more security systems in efforts to enhance defense.
Second, building such a wall will imply that persons crossing into the United States illegally will have to use other routes that could be physically inhospitable. I argue that unless persons crossing the border seem to show a threat of force, they should not become allowed to risk their lives by entering the country from dangerous locations such as mountains and hills that near the border.
Third, America should make use of its National Guard unit in efforts to defend the country and not building the wall. This unit can defend the country and offer reinforcement to the Border Patrol unit at a reduced incremental cost. The American government already pays for services offered by these units and only slight increments would be required to enhance training and buying of more equipment.
Lastly, building this wall will destroy nature reserves, protected land and endanger species that live along the border. Besides, the border will separate Native Americans into two parts. I think that building this wall will interfere with the personal rights of Native Americans.
Although I support that this wall should not become built, I feel that some of my colleagues use misleading assertions to substantiate their arguments. First, they claim that creating such a wall will promote racism. However, it is obvious that erecting a wall that separates two states can only promote national sovereignty and not racism. For instance, Saudi Arabia has plans to erect a wall that separates its border from Iraq, and no one has associated this act with racism (Huband 134). The truth is that the Southern border creates room for illegal entry into the United States, and thus, it is obvious that this region requires more security than other areas.
Second, I oppose the idea of my colleagues that this wall will resemble the Berlin wall, which had undesirable effects. This is because the purpose of the Berlin wall was to prevent those who were inside from coming out and not the other way round. Indeed, this argument can become compared with a wall surrounding a prison and another wall that surrounds the homestead.
While the wall surrounding the homestead prevents intruders from entering the home, the prison wall prevents inmates from escaping. A wall designed to bar people from escaping demonstrates a denial of freedom while a wall that bars intruders from entering a home demonstrates security. Third, my colleagues claim that a border fence cannot benefit the nation in any way. I oppose this idea because similar walls that became constructed before yielded positive results.
Those who support the building of the wall claim that it will decrease rates of immigration, extensively. However, this does not mean that the border will become secure. Rather, this will only make smugglers search for alternative ways of crossing the border. Besides, such a border is likely to face many sabotage attempts, which would imply that more people have to become deployed in efforts to watch over the border.
Others who support the building of this wall argue that almost a million illegal immigrants from Mexico enter the country every year (La Tour 193). These people settle there permanently, making the United States government incur extra costs in meeting their needs. Other proponents argue that these new settlers occupy their jobs, and thus, create employment problems in the country.
While this might be the situation, I feel that the United States government can control it through deploying more people to patrol the borders and create policy incentives that will make the Mexican government come up with ways of addressing the migration problem. Building a fence will only create more problems between the two countries because America and Mexico are trade partners who work under the free trade agreement. This agreement allows free movement of people and products between countries with no restrictions.
To end, I feel that building the wall is not the best way to handle this prevalent issue on illegal immigration, despite having experienced success in the past. Such a wall will offer the illusions of fortifying the border, but it will not prevent illegal immigrants from entering America through the Southern border. Since the wall may not secure the border, the reasons behind its construction are not enough due to the potential ecological damage that it may pose.
Rather than building this expensive wall, America should consider spending that money on deploying more security people and purchasing more equipment in efforts to fortify the security in the region. Hence, America should make use of its National Guard unit in efforts to defend the country and not building the wall.
Works Cited
Huband, Mark. The Kingdom: Saudi Arabia and the Challenge of the 21st Century. Heidelberg, London: Hurst & Co, 2009. Print.
This book explains the success of Saudi Arabia in global relations. The include works of many authors in politics, business and academic world. The book portrays relationships between Saudi Arabia and other countries. This book is relevant in this study as it gives us some information about the wall between Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Latour, Mark. American Government and the Vision of the Democrats. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2007. Print.
This work explains main issues facing the American government. Some issues that become discussed in this book include the role of government, rights, social needs, China’s expansion and job outsourcing. This book is relevant in this study as it explains to us some problems cause by illegal immigration of Mexicans in to the United States.
Rogers, Karl. Debunking Glenn Beck: How to Save America from Media Pundits and Propagandists. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger, 2011. Print.
This work analyzes Beck’s arguments and the future of democracy. Some themes discussed in the book include the Second Amendment to health care, housing, democracy, education, and government. The book also explains how Americans can renew democracy through the Constitution. This work is relevant for this study as it gives us the estimated cost of building the wall.