GSN March 2016 Digital Edition
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Xenophobic immigration policy<br />
would wreck the U.S. Economy<br />
Written by Walter Ewing,<br />
American Immigration Council<br />
<br />
are falling over one another to demonstrate<br />
who would be the “toughest”<br />
on immigrants and who would<br />
<br />
Leading the way is Donald Trump,<br />
who issued shrill declarations dur-<br />
<br />
“We have no borders” and “Illegal<br />
immigration is beyond belief ”—all<br />
of which is hard to reconcile with<br />
the fact that more Mexicans are now<br />
leaving the country than coming.<br />
Nevertheless, Trump promises to<br />
fix many of the nation’s problems<br />
by building a Great Wall along the<br />
ing<br />
all immigrants not legally authorized<br />
to be in the country. Not<br />
wanting to be outdone, Senator Ted<br />
Cruz of Texas has also called for<br />
the building of a wall—which has<br />
prompted Trump to accuse him of<br />
being a copycat. Moreover, while<br />
Trump would allow some of the unauthorized<br />
immigrants he deports<br />
<br />
States if they prove themselves to be<br />
47<br />
“very good,” Cruz’s plan would allow<br />
none of them to return.<br />
Much of this tough talk may be<br />
bluff and bluster; the verbal smoke<br />
and mirrors that is so often employed<br />
by political candidates in a<br />
<br />
it may be for real, which raises serious<br />
questions about its practicality,<br />
social repercussions, and economic<br />
impact. Let’s consider just the likely<br />
economic aspect of policies that<br />
would kick out all unauthorized<br />
immigrants and build a 2,000 mile-<br />
<br />
and Mexico.<br />
Various sources consulted by<br />
ably<br />
cost about $12 billion to build a<br />
Trump Wall along the border —plus<br />
$750 million per year to maintain it<br />
trol<br />
agents, helicopters, airplanes,<br />
and drones needed to monitor the<br />
<br />
<br />
aptly described a border fence as<br />
“a 14th century solution to a 21st<br />
century problem.” It is a “solution”<br />
that fails to account for the fact that<br />
roughly 40 percent of currently unauthorized<br />
immigrants came to the<br />
<br />
stayed after those visas expired. Nor<br />
does it account for the unknown<br />
share of the unauthorized who are<br />
led by smugglers through ports of<br />
entry rather than through expanses<br />
of empty desert. In other words, a<br />
border fence would have no impact<br />
on at least half of the unauthorized<br />
immigrants entering the country,<br />
and its impact on the other half<br />
would be partial at best given the<br />
proven ability of smuggling organizations<br />
to go under, through, or<br />
over the stretches of border fence<br />
that already exist.<br />
Leaving the cost of a border wall<br />
aside, what about the Trump Mass<br />
<br />
More on page 55
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