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It's amusing, of course, and sarcastic: but the fact remains, in the absence of a wall (or any other effective border controls), we in the USA are being overrun by illegal aliens. If President-elect Trump's plans for a wall along our southern border (and/or other effective border controls) succeed in stemming that flood, or at least reducing it to manageable proportions, I'm all in favor.
And, by all means, let's make Mexico pay for it, since that country is actively aiding and abetting the flow of illegal aliens from nations south of it to its northern neighbor. A tax on remittances by Mexicans to their families in that country sounds like a very good place to start. So does confiscation of cash being taken south by returning Mexicans, if it's not declared and within the legal limits placed on such activities.
Heartless? No, not at all. I'm a legal immigrant to the USA. I had to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops (and pay a great deal of money in fees, etc.) to come here. I'm proud of my adopted country, and I endured all those bureaucratic hoops because I wanted to become an American. They were my 'rite of passage', as it were. If I can do that, why can't others?
Build your - our - wall, Mr. Trump. It's long overdue.
Peter
The wall, by itself, is useless. A undefended fortification is just a speed bump.
ReplyDeleteThe total strength of the US border patrol is ~23,000 with ~70% of them on the border with Mexico. About 16,000 people is not nearly enough to enforce a 2,000 mile border 24x7, even with a wall.
President Woodrow Wilson sent between 75,000 and 150,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in 1916 to quell a surprise attack in the New Mexico town of Columbus by Pancho Villa, a military venture otherwise known as the Mexican Expedition of 1916. That wasn't enough.
To defend the border in depth, 99.99% effective rate would require 20 infantry divisions backed by air, light armor , and maybe artillery.
Hopefully Trump's wall will work out better than the last "fence" attempt, which sucked up billions got never got anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked at the lengthy tunnel systems under the border, but I finally lost my rag when I was reading about narcos running their cargos in via homebuilt submarines. The vast Cold War "no sparrow shall fall" system is apparently blind to those. Now we know that Soviet subs would have had to actually run up on a beach before anyone knew they were there... and the various intelligence services' claims to being able to track every small boat along the coasts is now something I'm highly doubtful of.
Given the cost of a wall, guard towers, night vision, and rifles might be cheaper, and a whole lot faster to implement. Particularly if you couple it with my repatriation system: giant trebuchets to fling illegals back over the border. Hey, once they pass over the line, they're not *our* problem any more...
Having been one of those who tracked those narco subs, the issue lies less with tracking and more with interception. We're not permitted to intercept unless there is hard evidence it's packed with drugs and/or weapons. And yes, they do smuggle weapons in. And this was back tail-end of W's second term. We can track, but if the humint isn't there...
Delete"Now we know that Soviet subs would have had to actually run up on a beach before anyone knew they were there... "
ReplyDeleteAs a former cold-war submariner, I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that that statement is factually untrue.
I have heard H1b visa holder have to pay a monthly tax to be in the US. Going to need to research this some, but I can see why they are popular with the government.
ReplyDelete@Barry Needham: I disagree. Based on historical models, I would estimate about 125,000 light infantry would be sufficient.
ReplyDeleteNo cat sits on a hot stove twice.
ReplyDeleteMake the stove hot enough and the problem mostly evaporates.
IF...I say IF...we enforced the current laws...shipped people back to their country of origin and cut our "aide" to the county of origin by the amount it cost us for each person returned...watch how fast it would stop!!!
ReplyDeleteThe wall is a fine start, and critical to border-jumpers, but it's a 21st century Maginot Line if the US doesn't attack the problem rather than the symptoms.
ReplyDeleteNot a single illegal works in the US without there being a citizen who is trying to cheat on his/her taxes by not paying payroll tax or 1099'ing workers. Tax cheats, CITIZENS, drive illegal immigration in the US.
If the US passes Safe Communities and e-verification for SSN's/TIN's, it will require most businesses to verify that their workers are legally entitled to work. Restaurants and landscapers are going to be hit HARD by this. And that's OK.
Construction code and community health board inspectors are able to levy civil fines for businesses who commit violations. There is NOT reason why they can not levy crippling civil fines for not verifying status through e-verification.
Finally, a $1,000/day fine per person for hiring an illegal will also help.
It's foolish to blame the illegals for coming here to work. It's our tax cheats who are driving this crisis, and yet no one EVER point a finger at them, which makes me think that few people in government actually want to make this happen.
I agree with Paul,Dammit. Enforcing existing laws would be sufficient and maybe seizing assets of illegals under the RICO statutes. All people respond to incentives. When the incentives are gone so will be the problem. The Mexicans need to go home and reform their own country. It may take a really nasty revolution though and that will be tragic.
ReplyDeleteA wall doesn't have to look like a wall.
ReplyDeleteI was up in Sumas WA last spring and checked out the border. You'd see someone's house and yard, and at the back of their back yard was a fence, and beyond that was another guy's back yard, but the street sign in front of that house was a different color. That was it. That was the border.
But every 100 yards was a tall concrete post with sensors and cameras on it.
Don in Oregon
Some one some months back had written that Trump should use all confiscated funds from drug lords and use them for building the wall. "Mexicans paying for building the wall - mission accomplished". Might even donate confiscated marijuana to LEGAL sellers in Colorado and other locations, asking for percentage of proceeds to fund the wall. Instead of burning it and 'going up in smoke', so to speak. :^)
ReplyDeleteTrump does not hate immigrants - he married one. What he purports to hate is ILLEGAL immigrants - we do have a process that allows this. Often much easier to become a U.S. citizen than the hoops other countries often put up for their own citizenship.
a wall just keeps the illigal immigrants in that used to back to mexico, now they just stay int the USA, btw 40% of illigal immigrants just overstayed their visa's.......... so its gonna do jack shit and cost allot of money. give a great aplause to shortsighted thinking or not doing the research
ReplyDelete