As most people knew even before Donald Trump got elected for President of the United States, he had major plans to build a wall to separate the United States from Mexico. The entire nation had very mixed opinions about this notion. No matter what everyone’s opinions are, it seems they were not taken into serious consideration, because Trump has proceeded to do what he wanted to do in the first place: build the wall.
Most people thought it wouldn’t actually happen. They didn’t worry before the election, but then tensions began to rise when he actually won the election. Now he is definitely going through with it.
Most people know about the wall, but don’t know the details and the actual intensity of the situation. Trump’s description of the wall is an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall” (Said in August, during an immigration policy speech.). Personally, I think it’s a wretched idea that is going to have serious consequences for innocent people who never wanted to get involved in Trump’s plan in the first place.
The exact plans for the wall are not defined clearly, and are estimated by high-class workers all over the country. The wall is estimated to be about 1,900 miles long. Trump himself says that it should cost about 10 to 12 billion dollars to build it, but fact checkers admit that they believe the cost is going to be so much higher than that. The Washington Post conducted a study that is making it look like the wall could be about 25 billion dollars.
Ali F Rhuzkan, a New York-based structural engineer, estimated in an article for National Memo that a 1,900-mile wall – seemingly Mr. Trump’s original plan – would require about 339 million cubic feet (12.5 million cubic yards) of concrete. About 1,000 of the 1,900 miles goes over private land. This land would either have to be purchased by the government, have a financial settlement proposed with the owner, or taken by legal action. If the land is used by the owner to help them make money, that would be horrible for them to have their land taken away from them because the president of the next country over doesn’t consider all the problems he’s making by this wall he’s building. Though, the real question is, can the owners of the private land the wall is going to be built on stand up to not wanting a wall on their property?
At the moment, there is currently 650 miles of the fence that have been put up before, and it’s nothing like all the great things Trump promised and defined his wall to be. This mere 650 miles has already cost more than 7 billion dollars. He wants the wall to go into remote and mountain areas, in case people of those places might cross the border, and that would boost the cost up.
The money for the wall obviously is a lot. Trump can’t/isn’t allowed to pay for it all on his own, so how is it getting paid for since it’s actually happening? Trump originally insisted that Mexico pay for the wall, but Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto says that he will not. And why should he? Trump’s trying to shut the Mexican people out, so why should the Mexican president pay for something that he did not approve, did not want, and hurts his people? Where Trump’s logic ends and absurdity begins, is not clear.
Trump has accepted that U.S. taxpayers would have to cover the initial funding. I personally find that unfair, most taxpayers did not approve or agree with the wall, and most certainly do not want to pay for it. Most taxpayers in the United States can barely pay the taxes that are thrown at them now, or can just barely pay it. Now bringing on even more taxes on the people in this country will send so many American citizens into a downward spiral. The wealthy won’t even have to pay as much as the middle class, because they always end up paying less. But will Trump even care, considering he already accepted that taxpayers are going to have to pay for this, and he didn’t even consider this downward spiral he will throw this nation into? I know for certain that most, if not mostly all American citizens are not rich and do not have the money to spare to be taxed even higher for a wall that they never agreed with having in the first place.
Another option is imposing a “border adjustment” tax. This would lower corporation tax from 35% to 20%, meaning imports would be taxed but exports would not, which would save them about 12 billion a year, which could go towards the wall, but at the expense of not having things the way they were before, and more expensive. Increasing travel visa and border crossing fees is another option. This would target countries that have a bad record when it comes to illegal immigration, which does include Mexico, and would increase visa fees, which is a very popular option with the Republicans. But it would most likely not be enough alone. The wall would not only affect people and their bank accounts, but also animals, and the environments and ecosystems surrounding where the wall would be.
There are many, many, cons to Trump’s wall. I, personally, disagree with it strongly. I see the reason and some of the pro’s behind it, but taking money away from people who are struggling already with money and didn’t agree with the wall in the first place is cruel and vain, and something needs to be done.
