OPINION: Trump’s border wall is full of holes

Donald Trump recently gave  the Washington Post some details about his plan to build a wall  along the Mexican border and force Mexico to pay for it. His goal would be to seal the border and stop illegal immigration.

As with many of his half-baked ideas, Trump’s plan is full of holes and would not solve the problem. The wall would not affect the estimated forty percent of  unauthorized immigrants in the US who don’t come from our southern border but  on airplanes and overstay their permits or visas. Trump does not talk about these individuals because it does not fit his narrative of simple scenarios and even simpler solutions. In his simplistic  world, you use basic and easy to understand problems and solutions which get you the support of ill-informed and angry American voters.

More than forty-five million visitors enter the US on a yearly basis with temporary tourist or other visas. Ninety-nine percent  of them leave the country before their visas expire. However, about 500 thousand overstay their visa and somehow blend into American society.

The vast majority of those who overstay their visas come from neighboring countries but also from distant ones, particularly Western Europe. The five top countries in this regard are Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and Italy. By the end of 2015 more than 90,000 Canadians were in the US without proper documents.

Coming to the US for many Europeans and Canadians can be easy. Mexican nationals, on the other hand, need to demonstrate to US consular offices that they are well-off and have strong economic ties to their country, which would imply a good likelihood that they will not overstay their visa.

Trump’s “beautiful” wall would not stop these individuals from coming into the US and possibly stay. If security is the concern, better screening about these individuals should take place. The individuals responsible for 9/11 came into the US with legal documents. A wall would not have prevented the tragedy in San Bernardino since both perpetrators had a legal right to be in the country.

So even if Trump were to build his wall it would not make us secure since those coming into the country from Mexico do so because they are looking for work. Trump boasts that he will build the wall and he’ll make the Mexican government pay for it. Should Mexico refuse to pay, Trump would stop remittances Mexican nationals send their family members.

Economists believe that freezing these funds would be nearly impossible. In addition, if these funds failed to reach families in Mexico, the country would suffer severe economic problems which would push more of them into coming to the US.

As with many other issues, Trump is totally ill-informed and appears to be unaware of repercussions. His recent suggestion that Japan and South Korea should pay for their own defense by obtaining nuclear weapons  is a case in point since it missed totally the  dangers posed by nuclear proliferation.

In the case of his wall, Trump completely misunderstands relations with countries which are not the same as those he is accustomed to in the business world where he could throw money around and buy politicians to obtain favors. International relations require cooperation and diplomacy to achieve mutually beneficial agreements. Building a wall would do the opposite since it would deteriorate relations with Mexico.

Fortunately, it will not happen. Although Trump may win the GOP nomination, his defeat in November is almost certain. That’s the biggest hole in his “beautiful” wall.

By Domenico Maceri

Domenico Maceri, PhD UC Santa Barbara, is a college instructor and freelance writer living in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and not necessarily of The Yucatan Times.

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