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Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Ron Paul Suggests A Better Solution Than Trump's Border Wall

Just one week in office, President Trump is already following through on his pledge to address illegal immigration. His January 25th executive order called for the construction of a wall along the entire length of the US-Mexico border. While he is right to focus on the issue, there are several reasons why his proposed solution will unfortunately not lead us anywhere closer to solving the problem.

First, the wall will not work. Texas already started building a border fence about ten years ago. It divided people from their own property across the border, it deprived people of their land through the use of eminent domain, and in the end the problem of drug and human smuggling was not solved.

Second, the wall will be expensive. The wall is estimated to cost between 12 and 15 billion dollars. You can bet it will be more than that. President Trump has claimed that if the Mexican government doesn’t pay for it, he will impose a 20 percent duty on products imported from Mexico. Who will pay this tax? Ultimately, the American consumer, as the additional costs will be passed on. This will of course hurt the poorest Americans the most.

Third, building a wall ignores the real causes of illegal border crossings into the United States. Though President Trump is right to prioritize the problem of border security, he misses the point on how it can be done effectively and at an actual financial benefit to the country rather than a huge economic drain.

The solution to really addressing the problem of illegal immigration, drug smuggling, and the threat of cross-border terrorism is clear:

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Paul is absolutely right concerning the handing out of welfare benefits to illegals coming here. Who wouldn't want free health care, food, and housing? That should be the first move by the Trump Administration. Halt the benefits to people who aren't legally here in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Many of us know "very nice" immigrants who are receiving food stamps, free medical care, and housing assistance AND THEY ARE SENDING THE MONEY THEY EARN WORKING HERE TO THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS BACK HOME. I wish they would be required to spend this money on their own food,medical expenses, etc rather than having us supporting them here so they can support people in their home country.

Anonymous said...

Terrorist don't care about welfare!

Anonymous said...

I vote we do both. No, the wall won't stop illegal immigration but it will give border patrol a fighting chance of catching them. The only reason we don't demand ID for food stamps, welfare, etc is the same as why don't demand ID at the polls. Apparently, the NAACP thinks blacks can't manage to get an ID.

Anonymous said...

Mr Ron Paul, I have always supported in full, your ideas and visions for this Country. UNTIL now,...the WALL MUST BE BUILT.

Anonymous said...

Well I read at article about how Israel built a fence along it southern border and works at pretty well