Here's Why a 'Great Wall' on the US-Mexico Border Is Basically a Pipe Dream Tech Featured
go to original January 14, 2017

The top man in charge of Homeland Security says there's a reason there isn't already a wall on the border (Fusion)

Almost everyone agrees that going for an all-out “Great Wall” model would essentially be a pipe dream, said Stephanie Martz, a lobbyist in Washington, DC, who worked on a comprehensive immigration reform bill with Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2013.

“There are several obstacles to building a wall if you take Trump literally on his word,” Martz told BuzzFeed News. “The top one is certainly funding.”



Even for the fence option, Politifact reported that it could cost from $5.1 billion to $25 billion, plus additional money to maintain it. The cost for a brick-and-mortar wall could balloon up to $40 billion, according to MIT Technology Review.
 

There are other issues as well: sections of terrain would make construction difficult, if not impossible, some of the land is privately owned, and it could intrude on close economic ties between cities on either side of the border.

And then there’s the matter of what, exactly, a large wall, or even more fencing, would accomplish given that Mexican cartels are increasingly using underground tunnels to transport drugs, weapons, and people into the United States.

In a 2015 report to Congress, the Department of Homeland Security said 183 illegal tunnels had been discovered in the US since 1990.

“A fence or wall is a 14th century solution to a 21st century problem,” Cuellar said. “Even the most ‘beautiful wall’ is not going to stop undocumented immigrants.”

...It’s also a proposal no one wants to pay for, particularly Mexico, where former and current politicians have vowed not to spend one peso on the project. A Mexican senator has proposed legislation that would prevent the country from using public funds to pay for the wall. And on Wednesday, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reiterated that while Mexico planned to invest in more border security, it would not pay for a wall.

Read the rest at Tech Featured

Related: Sorry, Donald Trump, But Mexico’s President Has Some Bad News About Your Wall (Fusion)

Related: Six Reasons Why Trump’s Wall Is Even Dumber Than Most of Trump’s Other Ideas (UK Progressive)

Related: How Donald Trump Could Force Mexico to Pay for the Wall (PanAm Post)

Related: See Where Fencing Has Yet to Be Built Along Mexico Border (The Daily Signal)

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