Samira Gonzalez

Professor Galindo

English 1302-SO8

February 10th, 2020

The Mexican Border Wall Argumentative Essay

Each country reserves the right to decide who walks through its borders. This idea is the most basic component principle of a nation’s sovereignty and should be supported by any side of the political spectrum. A border wall will not end illegal immigration, but it will be a significant deterrent. It is unfair to say Americans commit more crimes, and the border wall will not reduce it. One does not follow the other. Substantially many people die in car and plane accidents, but there is no advocacy to ensure air and road safety.

It will be non-patriotic to advocate for an open border where immigrants that promote violence against Americans, or who possess criminal histories can freely roam around and stroll into the country. Democrats especially have presented proposals for the security of the border in hushed voices that make this side of the American political sphere as blindly objecting of any form of security at the Mexican border.

Those that oppose the wall do it as a reaction to President Trump rather than an honest opinion on the need for security and the aspiration to maintain a uniquely diverse mosaic of cultures that is the heart of the American experience (Easter, Jeffrey, et al.). Although the majority of the immigrants do not pose a threat to security, the ones who do are ticking time bomb. At one point, an immigrant will use American laws that allow easy access to firearms. When this happens, Republicans will be presented with a political catnip putting Democrats and their opinion against the wall at a disadvantage.

However, all these arguments do not outweigh those against the border wall. No matter how tall and secure the wall will be, illicit goods will still find a way in. Undocumented immigrants and drugs will still find a way into the country no matter the barrier that is put in place. For the issue of illegal immigrants, the Mexican border wall will not be applicable to those that outstay their visas – a group that has significantly outnumbered those undocumented immigrants from the U.S. Mexican border.

The Mexican – U.S. border and, more broadly, the relations between the United States and Mexico, directly impacts more than 12 million Americans who live within 100 miles of the border (Meneses, Alejandro, & Hector). In many and very essential ways, there has been no understanding of how this wall affects communities in the United States as much as Mexico.

It is not easy to understand why the nation would spend billions of dollars, $15 to $25 billion to be precise, on the wall considering the government already spends a lot on the current security at the border (Nail). There are more than 20,000 border patrol officers, with physical borders, advanced technology, aerial surveillance along the 1,954 miles Mexican border. What has not been brought to the attention of people is that approximately 1,350 miles of fencing are already in place, including the border fence, secondary fencing, tertiary layers, and pedestrian fencing all in place for the prevention of illegal crossings.

The estimates for this construction will vary widely because of the lack of a clear estimate of who much the project will cost. There is no specification as to whether this wall will be a concrete wall or a see-through structure with the height going beyond 18 feet with a 6 feet foundation that will not prevent tunneling. All these descriptions will not cover the private land that the government will use, which will definitely call for compensation in addition to legal settlements.

The ecosystem at the border is very delicate, and the activities of the Department of Homeland Security in regard to the border wall implies no respect for environmental laws. The border is a habitat for the rarest and endangered species on the planet, such as the Mexican gray wolf, the jaguar, and the Sonoran Pronghorn. Interfering with it will result in disorientation and human interaction, which is not ideal for animal populations. Also, the wall will block natural floods and impede the flow of rivers in this area, especially the majestic Rio Grande River.

The wall will not end smuggling because smugglers have been using tunnels since the method was pioneered in 1989. The sophistication of these methods has also grown over time. There are other methods, such as drones, catapults, and joint drainage systems shared by border towns. There are also tubes where immigrants crawl, and drugs get pulled through. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has reported that the various drugs, marijuana, cocaine, and heroine get into the country through 52 legal entry points. Traffickers have created sophisticated compartments in the cars and trucks processed at ports, fooling the port officials and security personnel.

This discussion ends in a point where it is only obvious to conclude that the Mexican Border Wall is no longer President Trump’s campaign gimmick but something more of a security theatre. This wall is not a security, safety, or worthy expense for American dollars because the real crises will not be averted. To make it even worse, “security theater” is a measure that is orchestrated to make Citizens feel safer without the system actually doing anything. The problem with this theater, however, is that this one is not making anybody feel safer.

Actual security can only be derived from investigations and analysis. A good example of security theatre is what is happening at the airports with security officials parting everybody from old people to children and making everybody remove their shoes, which does nothing much about security but does a lot to make sure people feel safer. The border wall is, however, the most expensive security theatre in the history of the nation and can only be placed in the same league as the War on Terrorism. According to Steve Chapman, an expert in national and international affairs, the Mexican border wall is a piece of performance art that will cost the government hefty amounts of money and would not do anything in return (Coastan). He continues to say that the border wall will not stop the drugs from entering or reduce undocumented immigration, which occurs through the airports and not the border as the owners of the idea would like Citizens to believe.

The border wall will not do much to keep the terrorists outside this country, considering terrorists have gotten into the country through airports. The majority of those that used the border were found using the northern border with Canada and not the South. The thing is that cartels have already outsmarted checkpoints and will continue to do so. Cartels over the years have used the predictability and rationality of security at the border rather than scatter their resources across the desert and river. Also, terrorists are people who are fully documented. So saying the masses locked out at the South will mean less terrorism is problematic. There is no evidence of a terrorist coming through the Southern Border or planning to use it in the future. The economy of the wall is also outrageous and will not give returns. It will not help free funds elsewhere because I still feel the wall will still need security itself in the form of border patrols. Also, violating a habitat of a species is also not going against environmental laws and creates an impression of the government’s pursuit of lawlessness.

Works Cited

Coaston, Jane. “Sarah Sanders’s Strangely Unconservative Argument for the Wall.” Vox, 9 Jan. 2019, www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/1/9/18175451/sanders-border-wall-conservative-gop-trump-argument.

Easter, Jeffrey, et al. “The US-MEXICO BORDER WALL-A SENTIMENT ANALYSIS.” Issues in Information Systems 20.4 (2019): 123-129.

Meneses, Maria-Elena, Alejandro Martin-del-Campo, and Hector Rueda-Zarate. “# TrumpenMexico. Transnational connective action on Twitter and the border wall dispute.” Comunicar. Media Education Research Journal 26.1 (2018).

Nail, Thomas. “The Crossroads of Power: Michel Foucault and the U.S./Mexico Border Wall.” Foucault Studies (2013): 110-128.