Contrary to what people like Donald Trump might believe, our borders are not being overrun by Mexicans. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. So, Mr. Trump’s claim that “Mexico is pushing people in” is simply untrue. And his plan to stop this non-existent invasion is ludicrous.
According to a recent study published by the Pew Research Center, more Mexicans are leaving the United States than are coming in and, according to David Packman of The David Packman Show, the reason “seems to be a combination of a desire to reunite with family [and] a not particularly thrilling economic recovery in the United States at least with regard to wages.”
Packman continued, “Pew Research Center found that slightly more than a million Mexicans and their families, including their American-born children, left the U.S. to go to Mexico from 2009 to 2014 [and] during that same time 870,000 Mexicans came in to the U.S.”
This means that the United States has seen a total outflow of 130,000 Mexicans during the 2009-2014 period, which is a complete reversal of what Republicans like Trump have been claiming for years.
And, according to the man himself, immigration from Mexico is Trump’s number 1 objective to tackle. How is he going to fix the problem?
“I will build a great wall,” Trump tells us. “And nobody builds walls better than me, believe me.”
Okay, so we’ve established that Mr. “CEO-Elect’s” best solution to illegal immigration in an age of cars, trains, planes and boats is to “build a great, great wall on our southern border.” You know, to keep out them pesky organized criminals whose only option for crossing the border is barefoot through the desert.
Not to worry, because Mr. “Golden Doors” has us covered. “We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning,” he so elegantly articulates.
Now, according to Kate Drew of CNBC, “The U.S. border with Mexico is roughly 2,000 miles long and underlines four states from California to Texas. It is a massive stretch of land—the Berlin Wall spanned just 96 miles comparatively, and it cost about $25 million to build in 1961, or around $200 million with inflation.” She continues, “Building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants is not a novel plan. About 670 miles of fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border was completed in accordance with the Bush administration's Secure Fence Act of 2006. That alone cost about $2.4 billion, for roughly one-third of the entire border and, according to migration experts, some of the easier and less costly areas to fence.”
According to Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute, “the actual cost […] could be as high as $16 million per mile, with a total price tag of $15 billion to $25 billion.” On top of that hefty price tag comes the maintenance of that wall (about $750 million a year, according to Politico), never mind the personnel that would be necessary to man it.
So, what is Trump’s plan for how he’s going “Toupee” for this wall?
“I will make Mexico pay for that wall,” he claims. “Mark my words.”
I’m beginning to think that Ben Carson, the guy who believes in a talking snake, has more brains than good ‘ol Donnie.
