Build that wall?
Every week or so the pundits in the media find something else to shriek about. Over the last couple of months it's been the North Korea summit, the NATO meeting, the meeting with Vladimir Putin and now the threat to shut down the government if there is no funding for the wall. It's like watching Groundhog Day. You would think the hosts and pundits were reliving every controversy as if it was their first. There is no acknowledgement that they have seen how this plays out.
Look, here's how it works. President Trump goes in hard and says things that shock the DC establishment. Recently, there was a hue and cry over the threat to shut the government down if an immigration deal doesn't come to pass. This is an interesting example because a majority of Americans public believe that illegal immigration is an issue that should be fixed. 80% of Americans want a secure border and 54% want some kind of physical barrier based on a recent Harvard Harris poll. Building a wall is a commonsense answer. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg or President Obama. They have nice walls around their homes. The elites are well aware that walls are an effective way to keep people out and provide needed security.
Interestingly, the very people who live behind the security that walls provide are loath to provide the same security to the the cititzens of the United States. It's anathema to both the Republicans who want the cheap labor and the Democrats who want the future voters. However, the will of the people is clear as the polls show. Americans want better controls on immigration. Donald Trump was elected on a few specific issues. The biggest was the promise to build a wall. The odd part of the immigration debate is that an illegal act: crossing into another country without proper authorization is treated as an act of heroism.
We hear from the Democrats that these are refugees fleeing horrible conditions in their own countries. And that is true in some cases. The highest murder rates in the world are in Central America. It's a mess and has been a for a long time. The countries have suffered from poor leadership and a tiny group of people who have profited from the political situation. It's not a problem that is easily solvable. There are nearly 43 million people in Central America. Mexico has roughly 128 million people. Simply migrating the entire population of the region to the United States isn't in the cards.
Think of our policy in the middle east. We have spent TRILLIONS on destroying and then rebuilding countries like Afghanistan and Iraq. The goal was to remove a dictator who fell afoul of US foreign policy in Iraq or to stamp out radical Islamist forces in Afghanistan. These countries are thousands of miles away. Afghanistan isn't a country that will be redeveloped to western standards in my lifetime. Iraq is a sectarian disaster currently with the Shia, Sunnis and the Kurds fighting it out. Yet, countries that are close enough for people to literally walk to the United States are seemingly forgotten.
Perhaps instead of focusing on far away places we should focus closer to home. Mexico is one of our biggest trading partners and has enormous potential. Yet, it is a country beset by crime on a scale that we simple can't imagine. The journalists brave enough to report on the cartel violence have been killed and the others who value their life have been paid off. The same goes for their politicians. If you are presented with the option of truth telling and being assassinated the safe bet is to opt for safety. Most of us would.
Most of those who emigrate from Central America would prefer to stay in their home country. Generally, there are a few individuals who are bold enough to move to a country with a different culture and language. Because of the nature of this type of move it's anomalous. It takes a brave and hearty person to upend their entire life and go someplace new and different. The simple fact that so many people are willing to make this tremendous transition indicates extremely troubling times in their home countries. The question is what can we do to help or can we help at all?
Americans are a giving people. We have a generous spirit and are accepting of peoples from all across the globe who want to participate in the American experiment. We are also believers in fairness and equality under the law. The main problem Americans have with illegal immigration is the fact that it is illegal. It's much less about the ethnicity that the open borders folks would have you believe. Most of the people on the Trump side are FOR immigration. What we do want is a systematized, orderly process for bringing in the people that we need. As a country it should be our needs that hold priority. There are billions of people who are impoverished and millions who live in war torn areas across the globe. We simply can't accept them all. There is such a thing as the accident of your birth place. It's a shame, but a reality that won't change.
That the elites are fighting the will of the American people is interesting. We see all of our supposed betters lecturing us on why we are morally deficient. But we live in a republic. The will of the people is expressed through our elected representatives. Ultimately, the question is whose will are they going to represent? Will it be the multinational corporations and the chamber of commerce who donate heavily to the Republican party? Will it be the elites of the Democrat party who believe that their path to power is based on the explosive growth demographics of the new immigrants? Or will it be the American people who love all people, but who know that OUR benefit should be the first consideration. Time will tell.