Can we stop pretending like there is logic behind this stupid Wall?
We can stop pretending it’s because “illegal immigrants are taking away money from legal Americans” because Donald Trump threatened to shut down the entire border (in the midst of a Trump-approved government shutdown) in order to get his wall----which would put millions of jobs and billions of dollars at risk. Rather counter-effective to claim illegals are costing money when you are willing to lynch the stock market to make a point.
We can stop pretending like it’s because of the drugs that are coming over the border because we still won’t address the drug addiction issues facing the United States and the astronomically high number of drug users and drug owners in jail while STILL having astronomically low prisoner numbers for banks and bankers receiving and hiding drug money.
We can stop pretending like it’s because Donald Trump says it’s the only way to successfully protect the border, when he is inches away from an executive action that would actually seal the border without an actual wall if the Democrats don’t budge---which negates his entire point. We can stop pretending it’s because of border security because the Democrats (and even the Republican Senate) actually agreed with increasing border security and even increased the funds to accomplish this (I disagree with this but that’s for another day) and the deal still hasn’t been made.
We can stop pretending that it’s because Donald Trump wants to stop all illegal immigration because he still hasn’t brought up the people flying in from Asian and Middle Eastern countries to become illegals and hasn’t increased funding for homeland security to combat this---and also allowed for a government shutdown which doesn’t hand paychecks to the very same TSA agents and border patrol personnel that helps fight this.
We can stop pretending that it’s for American public safety because we still haven’t approached the problems that are affecting way more Americans than illegals----especially in the domestic violence and rape culture categories. More Americans have been killed by domestic terrorists than terrorists of overseas origin since Trump took office, and this was also the case under the Obama days. Of course, the gun control issue remains strong because we have seen mass shooting after mass shooting and still haven’t come up with any changes----or attempts to improve health care to focus on the underrated rising issues of mental health. We highlight the one illegal immigrant that commits a crime but neglect the millions living among us that do things the proper and society-acceptable way. Nearly 34 million Mexicans live in North America, with 20 million plus above Mexico so when Donald Trump says the country sends their worst, their criminals, their rapists, he is extremely far from the truth. Funny how he didn’t say anything about Brock Turner or Dylan Roof though…
We can stop pretending it’s because its cost effective---because the wall will cost over 20 billion dollars, and Mexico is still not footing any part of the bill---which by the way is their right. And this is during an economy that is slipping, during a stock market that is hitting ugly numbers, and during a rise in debt and deficit. Not helping matters is the rather lukewarm relationship between the United States and Mexico during these hostile times. Luckily for all of us, Mexico hasn’t stepped up and threatened or worse, made a deal (Like Mexico paying for a border wall if they can get California and Texas back---you know the deal would be momentarily considered under this presidency).
We can stop pretending like it’s because it will be effective because Israel, West Germany, and even China have a few examples. And let’s add that Israel receives millions of dollars from supporters monthly, including the United States. Nobody will be giving this country money to help maintain the wall security—this is all out of taxpayer’s pockets.
And lastly, we can stop pretending like its so that people can come in legally because the caravan was known to be arriving at Tijuana and Texas for months, was going to enter legally to properly claim asylum, and we still have children (illegally mind you) being separated from parents and have them detained despite them following all the proper rules. So even if you are arriving by legal means, you are still at risk of jail and losing your child forever, which is a horror that has not been discussed enough because we’ve been embedded with Trump news that makes news organizations money. And once again, no wall is tall enough to stop planes.
So why is this wall battle still happening? Because Donald Trump has a reputation to cling on to, because he promised this to his depleting fanbase; and during a turmoil-laden administration that is at the crosshairs of democratic and independent fury, the wall is looking less and less like a reality. His tough words didn’t shake Mexico in the least bit, and there was no leverage to play with to make Mexico even consider the idea. Mexico is under a new administration that is about to take on the drug cartels head-on (supposedly and let's hope) and really don’t have the funds or resources to fulfill a promise made by a man who is obviously anti-Hispanic. Leaving Puerto Rico out to die post-Maria hasn’t fallen well with the Hispanic community, and threatening to remove funds to help Central America didn’t sit well either. So Donald Trump has literally only one other option: force the Democrats to agree to a financial deal involving the one item he says taxpayers wouldn’t pay for or shut it all down. Guess what, government still in shutdown mode.
The Democrats have remembered the words of the past three years, and are out for Republican blood. Between the tax cuts, the constant altering of large and small laws passed under the Obama years (he even made it easier for mentally disabled to purchase weapons for crying out loud), the threats to cut funding from notoriously-Democratic cities, the refusal of the Republican base to check Trump and his dangerous words and actions (now, a proper pointing out of the fact that the Republican Senate agreed to a budget without the wall, only for Trump to turn it down), the Democrats are trying to right the ship they spent years sailing under the Obama Days, whether you agree with them or not. And there’s no way that post-small victory they are caving in to a Donald Trump 2016 promise, especially one that they had never agreed with. As a matter of fact, the wall battle is tanking Trump’s approval rating because Mexico isn’t involved, and it’s hard for any American to be okay with a 5-20 billion write-off on a decade-long project when the economy is hitting the question marks come 2019.
The solutions to the illegal immigration issues are far more complicated than what a wall would supposedly accomplish. Central America is reeling after decades of American interference, and just like in the Middle East this creates vacuums that allows for corruption and gangs to reign supreme. Venezuela’s dictatorship problems have etched into Honduras, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico with mass migrations mixing in with country-wide recovery efforts from those that are slightly more fortunate. Like I have always said, you can’t undo decades of civil war and corruption in a couple years---United States still has some after-effects from its own civil war way back in the 1860s. If you don’t believe me, just ask Charlottesville and Black Americans in the Southern states what they have been going through lately.
Hispanic culture is very much attached to their family and their homeland---we hardly ever want to leave either. But when it’s a day-to-day gang issue threatening your livelihood and the livelihood of your children, changes have to be made. If your environment can’t improve, it’s time to go. Helping improve Mexico, helping improve Central America would do wonders for the mass migrations and illegal immigration. Not saying I don’t want them to move to the United States, but if you want to end the migrations, end the desperation.
End the demand for drugs, and you cut off the food supply, which means you wouldn’t have to fight the hydra-like ways of the drug cartel directly. Legalize marijuana completely, go after illegal money, and hunt down the drug traders/distributors and not the drug users. This would curb the demand, and would cut off the money to drug cartels without having to resort to direct battling. Drugs, fear, and violence fuels gangs and cartels. If there is no drug business, you’ll slowly kill the gang business. You have to wonder why Mexico has a drug cartel problem and not a drug problem, and Colombia has a drug producing problem, but not necessarily a drug problem. United States is hands-down the biggest market for all drugs globally, you reduce those numbers and you’ll see healthier nations overall. You help improve the economy of your homeland and the countries closest to you, there will be less reasoning to resort to the gang life.
But these are issues the administration doesn’t want to bring up or face, for whatever reasons, instead focusing on one issue which is a drop in the bucket of American ordeals: the Mexican border and the illegal immigrants arriving from there. The wall accomplishes nothing, and doesn’t do anything towards the real problems facing the United States today, which in turn affects everyone around them: jobs leaving the country, economic inequality, health care woes, misguided war on drugs that focuses on the wrong subjects, and real emerging non-immigrant dangers like hate groups, mass shootings, unchecked mental problems, and over reliance on drugs and pills. 20 billion that would be needed for the wall can be spent on helping Puerto Rico, helping find clean water for Flint and other communities, and fixing a health care system that is shattered by the prospect of making it a privilege instead of a right. You can use those billions to help veterans, help the homeless, help the children that go to sleep without food in their stomachs. A wall will not fix any of that.
The United States is the richest country in the history of the world. There is so much money that flows in and out of the country that the bigger companies shove their earnings elsewhere to avoid taxes. We have enough money in the nation so resolve our issues and the issues of the nations underneath us. Fixing our problems would not only improve the country, but would improve our neighbors as well. But we can’t even begin to fix ourselves until we fix our perspective, and it starts by calling out bullshit like the stupid Godforsaken wall idea crafted by a man appealing to his fans while masking his racism behind a smokescreen of scare tactics. Donald Trump doesn’t take no for an answer, and it might cost the country millions, and might even cost him his presidency. But the wall should eternally be off the table in terms of seeking solutions for fixing illegal immigration, and fixing the United States overall.
No wall, its nothing more than an empty campaign promise and a power-hungry president with an awkward appreciation for dictatorship qualities desperate for a win of any kind. Time for logical current century ideas and less emphasis on stone age tactics.
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