• [ network ]
  • goatmatrix.net
  • gvid.tv
  • img.gvid.tv
  • games.gvid.tv
  • apps.gvid.tv
HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

Should We Build the Wall? We Asked Trump Supporters.

Views:1021
@ReasonVids

The wall might turn out "big" and "beautiful." But how much will it cost, and what will it do?

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

----------------

On March 13, 2018, President Donald Trump traveled to the border near San Diego to tour prototypes of the "big, beautiful wall" that served as the centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

Reason was on hand at a pro-Trump rally nearby to find out what supporters hope it will accomplish.

The first point to consider is cost. Trump has requested $25 billion just to build the wall, and independent estimates put the price tag even higher. Annual maintenance would optimistically run in the hundreds of millions of dollars, on top of the billions already being spent to expand Border Patrol personnel and technology.

Despite the president's repeated promises, Mexico will not pay for the wall. Whether through direct taxation or a new import tax, American taxpayers will be on the hook for the cost.

The people we talked to said one main reason we need a wall is to stop crime. But wouldn't all the resources we're allocating to blanket border enforcement be more effective if spent on targeting the bad actors?

The U.S. has erected hundreds of miles of fencing and other barriers in the last 30 years and more than quintupled the number of Border Patrol agents on the ground, in addition to installing high-tech sensors and cameras and using military drones to patrol.

And yet drug cartels and the human smugglers known as "coyotes" have out-innovated the authorities at every turn, using tunnels, planes, drones, ships, catapults, car ramps, and even specially built submarines.

There are other reasons to doubt the wall's efficacy in stopping the type of border crossings its supporters cite. The majority of unauthorized immigrants to the U.S. don't walk across the border—they show up with temporary visas and then overstay them. And lately, more Mexican migrants have been exiting the country than coming in.

"Get in line" was also a common refrain among the people we spoke to. Many proclaimed their support for legal immigration, even though Trump has thrown his support behind an effort to cut overall immigration in half over the next decade. Even at current levels, getting a visa is nearly impossible for many legal immigrants, especially Mexicans. In 2018, the quota is just 25,000 people, and there are nearly 1.3 million people on the Mexican waiting list who have already been vetted and approved by U.S. authorities.

Increased border enforcement has also backfired on supporters who worry about illegal residents. Reductions in guest workers and the expansion of fencing and Border Patrol activity over the past few decades have actually led to more unauthorized immigrants staying in the U.S. The new measures didn't stop motivated crossers, but they did raise the costs of going back over the border. An exhaustive study by the Princeton sociologist Douglas Massey concluded there are now over 5 million more illegal residents than there would have been if policies put in place under Ronald Reagan had been maintained.

For full text, links, credits, and downloadable versions: https://reason.com/reasontv/2018/03/22/trump-wall-immigration-borders-illegal

Produced by Justin Monticello and Zach Weissmueller. Hosted by Monticello. Camera by Weissmueller and Alex Manning.

"Chemical Bond" by Xenojam is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xenojam/SequenceofEvenets/ChemicalBond
Artist: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xenojam

Last Sky Dream by Xenojam is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xenojam/~/LastSkyDream
Artist: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xenojam

"Highway to the Stars" by Kai Engel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)
Source: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/KaiEngel/TheScope/KaiEngel-TheScope-05HighwaytotheStars
Artist: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/KaiEngel

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
justin monticello
,
zach weissmueller
,
border wall
,
president trump
,
donald trump
,
border crossings
,
immigration
,
immigrants
,
undocumented aliens
,
borders
,
walls
    Thumbnail for The Americans' Final Season: Q&A with the Creators Behind the Cold War Spy Drama33:42
    The Americans' Final Season: Q&A with the Creators Behind the Cold War Spy Drama
    ReasonVids
    937 views
    Thumbnail for Arizona's Immigration Law Heads to the Supreme Court3:48
    Arizona's Immigration Law Heads to the Supreme Court
    ReasonVids
    787 views
    Thumbnail for Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Save The World From Zika?5:50
    Can Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Save The World From Zika?
    ReasonVids
    877 views
    Thumbnail for The Future of School Choice in America1:01:13
    The Future of School Choice in America
    ReasonVids
    903 views
    Thumbnail for Kennedy Goes on Howard Stern: A Reading by Scott Adsit12:23
    Kennedy Goes on Howard Stern: A Reading by Scott Adsit
    ReasonVids
    1001 views
    Thumbnail for Billionaire Michael Saylor Believes in Bitcoin More Than Ever1:08:24
    Billionaire Michael Saylor Believes in Bitcoin More Than Ever
    ReasonVids
    835 views
    Thumbnail for Islam Without Extremes: The Muslim Case for Liberty24:19
    Islam Without Extremes: The Muslim Case for Liberty
    ReasonVids
    988 views
    Thumbnail for Matt Welch: Which McCain Is Showing Up at the RNC?2:17
    Matt Welch: Which McCain Is Showing Up at the RNC?
    ReasonVids
    1048 views
    Thumbnail for Lifeforce.1985 Escape scene8:49
    Lifeforce.1985 Escape scene
    MerkinMuffly
    2363 views
    Thumbnail for How the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) works - an overview | David Dorran4:24
    How the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) works - an overview | David Dorran
    invidious
    422 views
    Thumbnail for [Honkai Star Rail] Drip Marketing gọi tên Cipher! Liệu có phải Moze ProMax? | 715 Gaming3:07:03
    [Honkai Star Rail] Drip Marketing gọi tên Cipher! Liệu có phải Moze ProMax? | 715 Gaming
    invidious
    194 views
    Thumbnail for Obamacare, Gov't Insurance Exchanges, & The Coming Price Explosion4:30
    Obamacare, Gov't Insurance Exchanges, & The Coming Price Explosion
    ReasonVids
    1131 views
    Thumbnail for Journalist Andrew Malcolm on Embracing New Media6:10
    Journalist Andrew Malcolm on Embracing New Media
    ReasonVids
    1035 views
    Thumbnail for Ron Paul Expects "Dramatic Good News" Night Before Iowa Caucus2:46
    Ron Paul Expects "Dramatic Good News" Night Before Iowa Caucus
    ReasonVids
    1006 views
    Thumbnail for Sweden's March Towards Capitalism: Economist Andreas Bergh on the "Capitalist Welfare State"9:02
    Sweden's March Towards Capitalism: Economist Andreas Bergh on the "Capitalist Welfare State"
    ReasonVids
    1084 views
    Thumbnail for Peter Schiff at Occupy Wall Street: Full Version, Almost 2 Hours Long!1:48:29
    Peter Schiff at Occupy Wall Street: Full Version, Almost 2 Hours Long!
    ReasonVids
    790 views
    Thumbnail for We're Spending Too Much on Defense4:26
    We're Spending Too Much on Defense
    ReasonVids
    988 views
    Thumbnail for Sign up for Reason's First-Ever Cruise, Feb. 2011!0:40
    Sign up for Reason's First-Ever Cruise, Feb. 2011!
    ReasonVids
    1181 views
    Thumbnail for Destroying Latin America: Journalist Mary O'Grady on Populism, Protectionism, and Prohibition32:17
    Destroying Latin America: Journalist Mary O'Grady on Populism, Protectionism, and Prohibition
    ReasonVids
    921 views
    Thumbnail for School Choice Is A Moral and Financial Imperative19:22
    School Choice Is A Moral and Financial Imperative
    ReasonVids
    884 views
    Thumbnail for ‘We Are Always on the Verge of Chaos:’ The PJ O’Rourke Interview45:08
    ‘We Are Always on the Verge of Chaos:’ The PJ O’Rourke Interview
    ReasonVids
    931 views
    Thumbnail for Can a White Libertarian Man Represent NY's Chinatown? Meet Dan O'Connor.4:11
    Can a White Libertarian Man Represent NY's Chinatown? Meet Dan O'Connor.
    ReasonVids
    1059 views
    Thumbnail for Comedy, College, and the Fight to Save Free Speech: Can We Take a Joke?7:05
    Comedy, College, and the Fight to Save Free Speech: Can We Take a Joke?
    ReasonVids
    1028 views
    Thumbnail for Principles of Economics | Carl Menger 1871 [Book]5:00:00
    Principles of Economics | Carl Menger 1871 [Book]
    books.topic
    734 views
    Thumbnail for Senator Mike Lee: Give More Power to Congress (and Take it Away from Federal Agencies)15:41
    Senator Mike Lee: Give More Power to Congress (and Take it Away from Federal Agencies)
    ReasonVids
    1086 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
justin monticello
,
zach weissmueller
,
border wall
,
president trump
,
donald trump
,
border crossings
,
immigration
,
immigrants
,
undocumented aliens
,
borders
,
walls
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle