Essay Example on Benefits for Not Building the Border Wall

The campaign slogan for President Trump in the last general elections was 'Make America Great Again.' This slogan had several meanings, which aimed at making changes in America's policy system to foster the welfare of the United States to the exclusion of any other nation or citizen of another country. When Trump took over leadership from Obama, he was quick to make changes in America with the hope of fulfilling his campaign pledges. One key aspect that President Trump put much emphasis is the issue of illegal immigrants. He wanted to eliminate all illegal immigrants from the United States. There are several ways that he would employ to get rid of illegal immigrants of which building the southern border wall was among them. The problem of illegal immigration majorly stems from the porous southern border. For a long time, Mexicans have been infiltrating the border into the United States land in search of greener pasture (Felbab-Brown, 2017). President Trump believes that this problem can end by closing the southern border, which connects the United States and Mexico. He wants to execute this process by sanctioning the construction of a huge wall along the United States-Mexico border. In January 2019, the debate over the border resurfaced when the Congress declined to include the $5.7 billion meant for the construction of the southern wall in a bill aimed at funding the nine executive branch agencies. The move by Congress agitated President Trump who would lobby members of the Congress to buy his idea. At one time, he hinted at declaring the Mexican border issue a 'humanitarian crisis' (Rucker & Sonmez, 2019). The issue of the southern wall has elicited many questions as to its importance to the United States of America. The southern border wall is a project of no substantial use to the U.S. If avoided, the United States of America stands to benefit economically by saving on the construction costs; diplomatically by establishing a cordial relationship with Mexico and other nations; and environmentally by allowing free movement of wildlife whose presence in the ecosystem preserves the environment.

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From the economic aspect of the nation, setting aside the dream of building the southern wall will help the country save lots of money, which can be used for other pressing but fundamental matters like healthcare and education, among others. The cost of constructing the 1,954 miles wall is not known, but economists hint that the construction and subsequent maintenance of this wall could cost American taxpayers between $15billion and $30 billion. In his campaigns, president Trump promised that Mexicans would participate in the construction of the wall, but the Mexican government has vehemently declined to spend any money on the wall. During the government shutdown debates and negotiations, president Trump cut down the finances that were to cover the first project of constructing a 650 miles wall from $7 billion to $5 billion (Long, 2019). Further, economic experts warned that the wall project costs outweigh its benefits. For instance, they stated that for every 19 cents used to construct the wall and erect fences, the earning value of American middle-class earners gained only once cent. Therefore, proceeding with the erection of the wall will not help much in bettering the already poor return on investment of the American employees.

A third fraction of the wall has already been erected, and economists Caue Dobbin and Melanie Morten, who is based in Stanford University, projected a massive economical blow to the United States government. They insist that by the end of the project, there will be a very small number of workers whose output is tiny that the economic aspect of the country will be put in jeopardy. Besides, this wall will have little or no impact on the problem of illegal immigration (Long, 2019). Through his data analysis and extensive modeling, economist Treb Allen of Dartmouth College found out that the erection of the wall will cut down the number of Mexican workers in the United States by 144,000, which represents one percent of the entire population of Mexican workers in the United States economy. Such a drop in the figure implies that the United States government will lose millions of dollars in the form of taxes remitted by these workers. Allen further points at the amount of money that president Trump targets from all Americans, which is $15 per citizen to total to the project cost that is at least $5 billion. However, Allen warns that such a move will cause the fall of income by high-skilled workers by $7.6. Even though salary by low-skilled workers will increase by only 58 cents, economic sustainability will be impossible due to the considerable gap between the drop among high-skilled workers and the rise among the low-skilled workers. Therefore, Allen advises that shelving the construction of the wall will be of enormous benefit to the economy. Economists further put more doubts on this project by revealing the $4 billion loss every year by the American government. Mathematically, for every single illegal migrant that the wall stops, the country loses $30,000 (Long, 2019).

From the economists' analysis, there is no doubt that the costs of building the Mexican border wall are not economically viable. The process is not only expensive to develop, but also its maintenance costs are far much high (Long, 2019). Besides, the burden to the Americans will soar in terms of taxes. Therefore, the best option is to abandon the whole project and channel the funds to other pressing issues like universal health care, which seeks to compel the government to offer health insurance to all Americans. Education has also been expensive for most Americans, and funds that would otherwise be used on the wall can be redirected to the education sector. Alternatively, the unemployment problem in the United States can be tackled using the funds that would otherwise be used on constructing the wall. In essence, any person with an economic view will admit that shelving the process of wall construction is of huge benefits.

The benefit of stopping the construction of the southern border wall will be great to the environment. The environment is part of nature. The natural processes exist in a free space where there is no particular barrier. However, if other forces, especially human activities, come in to change the trend of natural processes, the effects could be so dire to the environment. In this case, the establishment of the long wall on the southern border of the United States implies that many natural processes will be interrupted if not permanently put to a halt (Rodgers, 2018). For millions of years, the ecosystem has been stable within the American region. The region covers both North America and South American countries like Mexico, Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela, among others. For millions of years, animals were free to move across this region. The movement of animals is attributable to numerous factors. Among them is to look for water and pasture. Animals exist by looking for survival means daily. Some of the means include migration from one habitat to another in search of meals. The region around the America-Mexican border is a desert, which sometimes goes for a long time without receiving rainfall. For their survival, animals have to move across the border in search of water and pasture. Depending on the rain patterns, they may go northwards to the United States or southwards to the southern countries including Mexico. The animal movements across the border are also attributable to the search for mates. Reproduction is a natural process that cajoles animals to move across the borders in search of mates. Unfortunately, the wall barrier, if build, will put wildlife like Jaguars at risk since it will disrupt their migration and mating patterns (Schwartz, 2019). However, if the wall is not erected, these animals will freely move as they have been doing. In the process, they will flourish in their natural habitats. From the above findings, the benefit of not building a wall on the southern border will be the preservation of wildlife, which contributes to the ecosystem that comes with environmental benefits and tourism revenue.

Setting aside the process of constructing the wall will significantly improve the diplomatic relationships between the United States and other countries, especially Mexico. Today, president Trump is at loggerheads with the Mexican president following his move to compel the Mexican government to fund the wall. Mexico is determined not to spend any amount of money on the wall, and this has further frustrated the diplomatic relationship between the two countries. In addition to that, most countries that are friendly to Mexico have joined Mexico in condemning the Trump administration and the United States at large for pursuing the construction of the southern wall. Truthfully, the wall will frustrate the gains that the two countries had made for the past years (Felbab-Brown, 2017). The barrier has intensified mistrust between Mexicans and Americans. Currently, Mexicans perceive Americans contemptuously as they classify Americans as people who lack morals that perpetuate humanity. On the other hand, Americans have developed a negative attitude towards Mexicans as they perceive them to be the cardinal source of challenges that America faces. The wall, therefore, will injure the trade relations between these two nations, which have been exporting and importing goods since time immemorial (Aguila, 2010). Furthermore, diplomatic relationships will get stifled due to problems that the wall will cause to Mexicans. Despite the barrier, Mexicans will not stop moving to the United States even if it is to pay the highest price. The wall will further intensify the work of smugglers known as Coyotes. From the findings by the Human Rights National Commission of Mexico and the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 10,000 Mexicans have died trying to cross over the border to the United States. Setting aside the dream of constructing the wall, therefore, will help ease the tension between the two countries. This initiative will be beneficial in improving the diplomatic relationship between the two countries,

However, some people claim that erecting the southern wall to create a barrier between these two nations will help the United States save on the costs that it spends on illegal immigrants. The United States of America has grappled with the problem of illegal immigrants for a long time since almost every person yearns to step foot and work in the United States. Therefore, many Mexicans flock the United States in search of better employment opportunities. When these people come in the country, they force the U.S government to cater to their lifestyle by meeting their health and education needs, among others (Aguila, 2010). However, this claim does not outweigh the costs that come with the full construction of about 1954 miles wall. Besides, most immigrants from Mexico engage in working activities, which contribute positively to the economy of the United States. Therefore, the services which these immigrants receive come from the taxes collected from their income. Despite the claim above, it is factual that not constructing the southern wall is beneficial.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that president Trump is ready to do anything amid the shutdown to see the completion of the southern wall. He intends to keep his campaign promise of making America great again. In his view, immigrants from Mexico are the major setback to the progress of the United States. However, it would be novel for the president to shelve this course since such a move comes with benefits that outweigh the wall's construction.