Analysis: U.S.-Mexican Border Wall Not Guaranteed to Reduce Illegal Immigration Matthew Rusling - Xinhua
go to original February 9, 2017

The US President's proposed wall along the U.S. southern border may stop some students from studying abroad in Mexico (Tiger TV)

U.S. President Donald Trump is continuing his plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border in a bid to stem illegal immigration, but experts said whether the wall will work remains an open question.

During his campaign, Trump made border security one of his main platforms, repeatedly promising to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border to stop the flood of illegal migrants who head into the U.S. every day.

Currently, there are around 11 million migrants living illegally in the U.S., and the problem of America's broken immigration system has been an issue causing bitter partisan rivalry in recent years.

Advocates of the wall say it will help keep out unfair competition for jobs in an economy where millions of Americans remain unemployed or underemployed. Supporters of the wall say illegal immigration drives down wages. And despite some economists' claims that Americans don't want the jobs that illegal migrants perform, others say those who've been unlucky in the job hunt will jump at any chance they can get for work.

Tiffiany Howard, professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told Xinhua it's difficult to make predictions about the impact of the wall, since the concept has not been fully formed into legislation.

Indeed, it remains unknown whether Trump's wall will actually be a wall, or whether the president will add extra fencing across the 2,000 mile frontier.

"If it's an actual wall and there are border agents on the wall, it could potentially reduce the number of those who are entering into the country from Mexico. But at the same time we have to remember that there are tunnels between Mexico and the United States, so that's another route that undocumented individuals are able to enter the United States," Howard said.

So it may decrease illegal immigrants from entering the country for a moment, but there are alternative ways in which to enter the United States," she said, arguing that a wall could cause an initial dip in the number of undocumented individuals crossing the border, which would later return to normal levels.

Read the rest at Xinhua

Related: Trump Border 'Wall' to Cost $21.6 Billion, Take 3.5 Years to Build: Internal Report (NBC News)

Related: Mexican Formula 1 Driver Sergio Perez Backs Anti-Trump #BridgesNotWalls Campaign (Autosport)

Related: Pope Francis Says Building a Wall on the Border with Mexico 'Not a Christian Gesture' (teleSUR)

Related: Steve Bannon Aligns with Vatican Hard-Liners Who Oppose Pope Francis (NPR.org)

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