Blog Stage 7

The US-Mexico border fence, or "The Great Wall of Mexico", is the solution that is being implemented to help prevent illegal immigration. I do not agree with this concept of putting up a wall to keep the people out. It is not fully effective and very expensive for the government.

I believe that there should be other ways to help prevent illegal immigration then just putting up a wall. The government can increase patrol, install more cameras, etc. that may help with the issue. I think this should be done at both borders, not just focused on the US-Mexico border, if illegal immigration is trying to be prevented.

The US-Mexico border, where the fence is proposed to be put up, runs about 2,000 miles long. At first, the government estimated that the cost of the entire thing would cost between $4-$8 billion.  However, the fence in the San Diego area it turned out that the costs were ridiculously high. It was estimated that the San Diego fence would cost $14 million (approximately $1 million/mile).  After actual building, the first 11 miles cost $42 million ($3.8 million/mile) and $35 million ($10 million/mile) to complete the last 3.5 miles. Just this small portion of the fence has caust drastically higher then the estimate.  I feel that this money that is being used for a wall could be used in more productive ways to prevent illegal immigration and towards other issues that the United States is facing.

Another factor is that the wall is not fully effective. People can, will, and have found a way to get past the wall and pass between the United States/Mexico.  At least 40 tunnel passages have been discovered that have been used for large scale smuggling of drugs, weapons, and immigrants.  For example, one tunnel was discovered that ran from San Diego to Tijuana that had 300 pounds of marijuana at each end and was so sophisticated that it had concrete floors, was wired for electricity, and had drainage. The tunnel was about 1/2 a mile long, 60-80 feet deep, and 8 feet tall.  It obviously takes a lot of effort to make something like this which shows that if someone wants to come in, they will find a way and a wall will not prevent this.

Overall, I think that more should be done to prevent illegal immigration but building a wall, especially one that is costing so much more then expected, is not the answer to this problem.