Trump's Great Wall of the United States Will Hurt Us All

Trump's Great Wall of the United States Will Hurt Us All

When President Trump first envisioned his Great Wall of the United States during his campaign, he didn't just mean physical barriers.great wall of united states He also meant to use them as a metaphor for the American project of self-governance and nationhood. His vision reflected an unspoken assumption: that the United States could do anything, no matter how big or small, without any input from other nations. That's a dangerous and outdated mindset.

During the Trump presidency, we've seen the results of his vision.great wall of united states His administration has built and strengthened many sections of fencing on land controlled by the federal government. But the bulk of new construction is slated for privately owned property. And it's going to cost a lot. The eminent domain process that's required to seize private land for border construction is notoriously complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. It's also controversial, with allegations that the government is lowballing land owners and dragging its feet.

Most of all, it will harm the natural environment.great wall of united states As ProPublica reports, "Construction of the wall, enabled by multiple waivers of the Endangered Species Act, is cutting off migratory corridors for jaguars, black bears, ocelots, and other species, destructing decades-old saguaro cacti on national parkland, and polluting scarce freshwater sources like the Rio Grande river in the remote Big Bend National Park, which supplies drinking water to local communities."

The damage extends to our democracy and rule of law.great wall of united states Congress has the constitutional authority to spend taxpayer money, which is why a president cannot just raid military budgets to pay for his pet projects. Trump's refusal to accept congressional appropriations and his declaration of a national emergency to circumvent the law demonstrates his contempt for Congress and our constitutional order.

Perhaps the greatest damage is to immigrant communities and the broader US population. For many immigrants, the wall would divide their homelands, separating them from relatives and sundering the natural environment that's central to their cultural identities. And for those who have sought asylum in the United States, the wall and the administration's accompanying policies have only made their lives harder.

Man-made physical barriers between Mexico and the United States have existed since before Trump took office, but his proposals are unprecedented in scale and ambition. They send the message that the United States is unwilling to work with Latin America to face common challenges; that it believes Latin Americans are inferior. And that's a dangerous mindset for both countries to have. As the world grapples with shifting demographics and geopolitics, we should take the opportunity to reexamine our convoluted bilateral relationship in light of the broader global context. It's too important to allow it to continue to be held hostage by a wall of misinformation and fear. The US was germinated from a wall-DNA and a wall-mindset, but it can't be sustained by them. It's time to tear down this ill-conceived barrier and start anew.