The US-Mexico Border Wall Controversy - Articles Analysis Essay

Introduction

Trump's border wall has been a very controversial point of discussion in American politics with different people having different opinions concerning the project. The views and opinions of the people are majorly based on the associated social or economic costs the US citizens have to incur in the form of taxes to finance the complete construction of the border wall. Below are some facts and figures from four credible sources reflecting the US-Mexico border wall controversy.

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Deeds, Colin, and Scott Whiteford. "The Social and Economic Costs of Trump's Wall'." Voice of Mexico. revistascisan.unam.mx.(2017).

Summary

In this article, Colin Deeds and Scott Whiteford look deeply into both the economic and social costs of the trump's border wall. They observe that the decision made by the US president Donald Trump to construct a wall extending the whole length of the border is a concern that would not solve the problem of illegal drug traffic and immigration into the United States stating that the problems started a long time ago. To solve the problem, the president would better look into the roots of such problems and solve them from there. According to Deeds and Scott (2017), Trump has used more than $2.3 billion in building the wall in addition to the annual maintenance budget of $500 million. GAO estimate obtained by the Reuters records an estimated $21.6 billion total cost for extending the barrier to the fullest border length. This cost, the writers observe that, will entirely be paid for by the US taxpayers leading to a looming burden primarily on the ordinary citizens. Socially, the border wall has caused untold traumatization of families in both the United States and Mexico as their loved ones get deported even at night. Second, the border wall has not prevented illegal migrants from their attempt to cross the border. Instead, it has forced people to take the longest and most dangerous routes through terrible terrains to get to their destinations. Some of them die on their way while the US border patrol personnel detains others and deport them leading to traumatization among their families and relatives left on the other side of the border.

Synthesis

The economic cost estimate for Trump's wall by Deeds and Scott (2017) seems to be so much underestimated when you compare the findings by other authors such as Drew (2017), Kakaes (2016), and Miller and Joseph (2017). Basing their reference to GAO's reported cost of only $21.6 billion, Deeds and Scott (2017) will be disappointed if the cost of constructing the border wall rises to $66.9 billion as projected by Drew (2017). This would also mean that the American citizens would have to pay more taxes to cover up the estimated cost difference of about $45.3 billion. As a result, there would be very terrible inflation in the price of goods in the United States leading to high cost of living especially to the common citizens, some of which have not even a place to call their home.

Drew, Kate. "This is What Trump's Border Wall Could Cost." CNBC (26 Jan. 2017). CNBC. Com/2015/10/09/this-is-what-trumps-border-wall-could-cost-us. Html (2017).Summary

Kate Drew is trying to reflect what Trump's wall could cost at the end of its construction. Drew (2017) cites an electronic mail letter written by Austin R. Evers, the executive director for American Oversight to Ms. Barksdale-Perry, the acting senior director of FOIA Operations. In his letter, Austin notes that the estimated costs for building the border wall to completion would range from $15 billion to $66.9 billion. Given such an estimated cost, Mr. Austin observes that the ordinary citizens of the United States must have a keen interest in how the money shall be paid.

Synthesis

This article disapproves Trump's math estimating the total cost of completing the US-Mexico border wall. Kakaes (2016) noted Trump saying that the wall would consume between $ billion and $12 billion, the estimation which is far much less than what Drew (2017) finds. The estimated cost difference would amount up to $54.9 billion. As a result, the government would be caught in absolute despair having to cover up these costs to complete the construction of the border wall to its completion. Economically, $54.9 billion is not a little money. Therefore, such would bring notable inconvenience both to the government and the people.

Kakaes, Konstantin. "Bad math props up Trump's border wall." (2016).

Summary

Konstantin Kakaes refutes Trump's cost estimate for the complete construction of the US-Mexico border wall. According to Kakaes (2016), Trump said that the total cost estimate for constructing the border wall would range from $8 billion to $12 billion. However, Kakaes (2016) considers the logical costs associated with building the wall including the estimated costs of concrete at $9 billion, steel $4.6 billion, and the labor at $27 billion. This sum up to about $40.6 billion for constructing just a 1,000-mile wall length across the unfavorable terrains. This, therefore, reveals an extensive range of cost estimate and would cause a significant impact on the economic stability of the ordinary US citizens from whom the money must be derived in the form of taxes.

Synthesis

The estimated cost of building the border wall as found by Kakaes (2016) is consistent with the latter findings by Drew (2017) where the former quoted a range from $15 billion to $66.9 billion, and the latter made a quotation of approximately $40 for the complete construction of the border wall. This implies a high level of accuracy in the total costs the wall would consume after its construction. Therefore, the citizens must be ready to pull up their socks to pay for the total construction costs for the border wall as the estimation seems somehow correct.

Miller, Todd, and Joseph Nevins. "Beyond Trump's Big, Beautiful Wall: Trump's plan to wall off the entire US-Mexico border is just one of a growing list of actions that extend US border patrol efforts far past the international boundary itself." NACLA Report on the Americas 49.2 (2017): 145-151.

Summary

Since the day when Donald Trump was sworn in as Barack Obama's successor, his plans and staunch stand on constructing the US-Mexico border wall has become a significant opposition among the citizens of the United States, Trump signed an executive order commanding that the physical wall is constructed immediately on the southern border to help in the prevention of the illegal migration, terrorism, drugs, and human trafficking. The wall must be erected approximately 30 to 18 feet for secure obstructions. Trump's wall is expected to consume about $15 to $40 billion, the price which has triggered fierce opposition from the majority of the US citizens. NORC Center for Public Affairs poll conducted in April 2016 found that 58% of the respondents strongly condemned the border wall construction and only 28% supporting it.

Synthesis

In their article, Miller and Joseph (2017) estimated the costs of the wall that is consistent with the findings made earlier by Kakaes (2016) which stated that the wall would cost a total of up to 40 billion dollars to complete a 1,000 miles border wall across the unfavorable terrain. Both the articles imply a hefty burden that the border wall construction would lobby onto the common citizens of the United States and even Mexicans in the form of taxes. This just means that the citizens of the United States must be ready for the worst economy ever when they purchase goods at the highest market prices to solicit funds for financing the border wall construction. The money needed to fund this project cannot come elsewhere apart from the very pockets of the US citizens among which some do not even have a place to call home. As a result, it would not be such a fair and just deal especially to the low-income earners struggling to even feed their children.

Works Cited

Deeds, Colin, and Scott Whiteford. "The Social and Economic Costs of Trump's Wall'." Voice of Mexico,[Retrieved from](2017).

Drew, Kate. "This is What Trump's Border Wall Could Cost." CNBC (26 Jan. 2017). CNBC. com/2015/10/09/this-is-what-trumps-border-wall-could-cost-us. HTML (2017).Kakaes, Konstantin. "Bad math props up Trump's border wall." (2016).

Miller, Todd, and Joseph Nevins. "Beyond Trump's Big, Beautiful Wall: Trump's plan to wall off the entire US-Mexico border is just one of a growing list of actions that extend US border patrol efforts far past the international boundary itself." NACLA Report on the Americas 49.2 (2017): 145-151.