The Problem
“Borders are the worst invention ever made by politicians,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president stated this while reflecting on globalization’s failed promise of borderless nations, and the creation of borders more rigid than ever (2016). Across the world, wall building has become the common political strategy used by nations who deem physical barriers as the only way to deal with difficult neighboring nations. The increasing fortification of borders as not just a political line, but as an established physical barrier, responds to the security and migration issues at a global level. Border walls are used for varying purposes, walls can separate opposing forces; often, they are used to make territorial claims; however the more problematic use, is the keep out unwanted groups.
When the Berlin Wall fell nearly three decades ago, there were 16 border walls in the world; today the number is ever growing with over 70 completed border walls globally (Brunet-Jailly, 2016). Experts agree that walls do not address the root problems of security and migration, supported by the fact that global refugee applications and terrorist attacks have increased tremendously even though countries have walled themselves off; which leaves unanswered questions as to the real reason walls are still being built. Although building a wall has become a common political strategy in response to global concerns of security and migration, nations should consider the reasoning
The 45th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, is a political man who has many ideas to improve the U.S. One of the many idea he had included building a wall between the borders of the United States and Mexico for the “purpose of controlling immigration into America”. According to Trump this wall is supposed to help our country with its national security. In reality though, many people believe that the wall is showing Trumps true colors. Many people are contemplating on the fact if Trump is a racist person who is building the wall because it provides a method of targeting and preventing those who are trying to cross the Mexican-American Border. In reality, Trump only cares about trying to make “America Great Again”, and
The wall that Bowden discusses is the barrier between the United States and the country of Mexico to the south. He uses the terms fences, borders, and barricades. Part of the wall is constructed of metal. Other portions are concrete. Each of the materials that are used is hard and designed to be uncomfortable and discouraging to those who see it, effectively creating both a physical and psychological barrier between acceptable and unacceptable populations. The purpose of the wall, according to Bowden, is to keep a certain population out of the United States. Mexican illegal immigrants are crossing the border into the United States in large numbers. For the American government, illegal immigration is an unacceptable set of circumstances and the purpose of erecting a wall was to keep those people from crossing the border into the United States. Bowden explains that the wall is effective only until the point when inclination and desire of the excluded population overcomes the existence of the wall. People will then cross over it or crash through it. If their will is strong enough, then the people will be able to overcome the wall, making its presence outdated and ineffectual. Since people overcome the wall, there is no need to keep the wall or to provide moneys to either enlarge it or for the upkeep of the wall. Each
One of the pros for building the fence is that “control of the borders are required for national security”. With the rise of terrorist groups around the world including
Usually walls are put into places to avoid people to cross borders and keep peace but they destroy peace. Recently one could have heard in the News that Trump wants the Mexicans to pay for a wall between Mexico and the United States. This Wall should make it impossible for people to cross the border unofficially. As one could know from history classes, we had a wall in Germany for many years which was built by the winner countries of the second world war for a similar reason. Before the Wall, many people from East Germany tried to escape to West Germany where they had obviously better living conditions. It divided Germany in East and West Germany. Additionally, there was a part of Berlin, what was in the East German part, isolated from a huge wall that belonged to West Germany. This wall made it hard for the citizens of East Germany to visit West Germany. The Government of East Germany had other principles than the government of West Germany and it was not in the interest of the East German government to show their citizens how good their life could be in West Germany. After the falling of the Wall, it was possible for everyone to travel in Germany whenever they want without standing in line at the borders. But there was a big gap in wealth between East and West Germany. Even today the loans in West Germany are lower and the federal states have less money than the ones in West Germany. But in Berlin, one can visit ruins of the Berlin Wall which are colored and painted. As one could know from visiting Berlin, there is only a small part of the Wall left but at other parts, one could find the position of the wall with marked flagging on the ground. Additionally, one could buy a piece of the wall as a souvenir. Standing in front of the ruins of the Berlin wall inspires this realization: Peace is about breaking barriers not building them.
Borders is a topic that has been currently talked about frequently in the news over the past year, which has got me thinking what are borders? A basic definition of borders are physical or imaginary lines that divide geographic areas. However borders are not always tangible, they can be psychological as well. My definition of borders are they are barriers, real or unreal, based on certain ideas that separate for specific reasons. But since there is no standard definition that everyone agrees on, each person has their very own definition of what borders are, what they mean, and what purpose they serve.
In recent years, the concept of borders has become focused on the movement of people, with an increasing number of countries opting for a protectionist approach to immigration. Yet, the increasing number of casualties as a direct result of these borders calls into question the continuation of strict border control. States use borders as a defence mechanism in the hope of protecting citizens from criminals and terror. But, history has shown that borders have repeatedly caused significant human suffering. Borders are also used as an economic tool to defend a countries market. However, economists suggest borders may be preventing a doubling in world GDP. The border control of states is ineffective. It is morally and economically flawed.
I understand the advantages a wall gives, because a lot of immigrants come through, but it’s not a practical wall. If eleven-million already get in with this “barrier”, do we really even need it if we have protection? The U.S. have spent nearly eighteen billion dollars on immigration problems, and are planning to add another five billion in the next five years (ProPublica, xx). If the first eighteen didn’t get us much, why should we invest in another five billion? The money should go to better things, like helping poor cities, and even helping past traumatic events. Look at New Orleans, which is still very much affected by Hurricane Katrina. They most definitely could use help. Reasonably, there just isn't a good solution to fix this border, because we do not need
In our present times national security became a priority. According to Tricia Escobedo, the last year’s terrorist attack in Paris on the night of November 13th left 129 people dead and hundreds wounded. The perpetrators were a mix of French nationals, and Syrian refugees that migrate to Europe due to the current open door policy for asylum seekers (1). We have a problem because our southern border is an open door for foreign terrorist to enter our country, due to the fact that the many people cross illegally. According to Stephen Dinan, nearly 800,000 people arrived in the past two years (1). I am veteran of the United States Army that deployed many times to Afghanistan, I lived in what we call forward operating bases, this forward operating bases had a secure perimeter due to the presence of physical barrier in this case a wall, in order to protect the people inside, and this solution work because it keep any threats away. We had 100 percent control of the people entering the Forward Operating Base, this kind of control reduced drastically any possibility that a foreign terrorist could enter inside the base, and cause severe casualties between the civilian and military personnel.
Many say that the border wall is a bad idea, but others say it has some benefits. President Trump said in his campaign that he wanted “a great, great wall.” This was to ensure that anyone with no papers doesn’t take the jobs that “Americans” need. Since there are 2 sides of this problem they should both be addressed.
Thus, the author emphasizes that the great empires expand, while the declining ones build walls, contrasting the American wall with the once isolated and now open Great Wall of China with china’s economic growth. Then he said that American wall is similar to Israel’s wall, appealed to discourage terrorists, an excused to say that terrorist from Middle East may penetrate the US as Latino immigrates did. Though protection is the obvious excuse for a border separating wall, the issue of who it belongs within is problematized. Now The US is debating who is an American, proposing restrictions that deny automatic citizenship to any baby born on American soil. Rodriguez indicates the irony of having a wall to
In previous years, many countries and territories around the world have attempted to build walls, and many have had very much success. For example, Most of the walls built after World War 2 and the Cold War still exist today. There were a total of 110 walls built between that time period. Professor Nazli Avdan led a study that had a goal of identifying if a border wall reduced or increased the risk of a transnational terrorist attack. This study found that since the year 1900, transnational terrorist attacks have seen a thirteen percent annual decrease in countries with border walls (Border fences reduce...attacks). This has been a real focal point that President Donald Trump has used to get people to agree with him. Another reason of his includes the disrupting of the funneling of illicit money and drugs into the United States of America (Border fences reduce...attacks). The bonus of the building of the wall is that it will be a visible sign of the government taking action.
The 13 million people who live along the United States - Mexican border1 face unique health issues and disparities than their northern and southern residing counterparts. Access to health care is a great health determiner for the many foreign-born residents living in the United States, especially for undocumented immigrants2. The topic to be addressed in this review will include current health issues and accessibility of care for the people living along the US – Mexico border. This study will include infectious diseases, substance abuse as well as issues facing women and children. The combination of many social factors including increased poverty and drug use, limited healthcare and low self-efficacy are all impacting the rates of
Although written in 2003, Andreas’ article “Redrawing the Line” provides an interesting perspective into national sovereignty and contemporary anxiety regarding American border security, specifically as applied to Mexico. Poignantly, the author states that no state will ever ensure complete control of its territorial integrity by sealing its borders (109). However, Andreas contends that this reality does not, in fact, imply that “states have ‘lost control’ over their borders” (110). Furthermore, he offers an interesting perspective into the different types of borders, which he categorizes as military, economic, and police (85). Each type of border, and its associated security, maintain their own costs and benefits. For example, although strict
The border between the United States of America and Mexico always had been always a theme for a lot of discussions. And, in the book “Sunshine/Noir II” Juanita Lopez and Michael Cheno described, through texts, their point of view about the topic. Both authors represent that the control of the border has become way more restrict and militarized. In that sense, Michael Wickert presents his idea in a poem form, text named “The border Is a Fight”, that describes the dramas of a Mexican family that has to cross the border every day in a hope to get a better future. Whereas, Juanita Lopez demonstrates it through an essay that uses personal narratives of the author’s relatives to illustrate her point of view. Therefore, the both authors exploit their point of views using different text forms, and figurative images, like metaphors and personification, for delivering their ideas in the way they do.
Implementing stringent security controls along the borders is likely to reduce the influx of illegal immigration into the United States. With the increased border security, the American government could have helped alleviate the occurrence of the 9/11 bombing. Though this strategy is essential in alleviating the influx of illegal immigrants to certain geographic areas, increased border controls in these locations have made other, less controlled areas of the border more vulnerable. Rising crime rates, discarded debris, increased apprehension rates, and growing public scrutiny in these less secure areas provide clear evidence that border security is at once a social, an economic, and a national security issue.