BYU NewsNet - America's Great Wall

It’s costing a million dollars a mile, and it’s only a third of the way done. Some call it the new Berlin Wall, or the Great Wall of America. The 12-foot border fence is far from done, but the numbers of illegal immigrants are already far lower in areas where the new wall stands.

So job well done, right? We successfully solved our problems by building a big wall to hide them behind. But what happens when immigrants keep getting through? Even at the Berlin Wall, where guards used open fire to stop and sometimes kill those who attempted to cross, 5,000 people still managed. The biggest firepower backing up this wall is desert and wandering border patrol officers in trucks and helicopters. They’re still going to cross. And even when they get caught, they usually wait less than 10 minutes after the officers leave to try again.

Illegal immigration is a serious national issue, mostly because it overflows into other major national problems: It’s an education issue when local school districts complain of being overtaxed to compensate for illegal immigrants’ children; it’s a health care problem when emergency rooms push up the cost of premiums for the uninsured, largely to compensate for uninsured aliens; it’s an economic issue when illegal workers take American jobs; it’s a crime issue when Central American gangs infest U.S. cities; it’s even a national security problem when terrorists could easily smuggle bombs over the wall with immigrants. Clearly it’s a problem, but does the wall really deal with it?

The wall is only a Band-Aid on a festering, open wound. Physically, it begins to solve the problem. Fewer immigrants will enter the U.S. illegally and the sore will be covered from more infection. But what about the ones already in? What happened to the promises of numerous politicians, including both presidential candidates, about stricter rules on legalization and improved enforcement of immigration laws? Are those hiding behind the wall too?

Unless we back-up the Great Wall with internal reinforcement, we’re merely covering the wound so no one can see it fester. The message to potential wall hoppers isn’t “don’t think about it,” it’s “if you hurry, maybe nobody will notice.” The wall may make it harder for illegal immigrants to physically get in, but it does nothing to hinder them once they do.

If the wall is the end-all answer to the illegal immigration problem, then make it impossible to cross. Run an electric current through it or line it with armed guards. But if it’s part of a larger solution, then reinforce it with tighter legislation. Give the wound an antibiotic that will heal instead of just preventing it from spreading. Make the wall part of the answer, not just a really expensive part of the problem.

This editorial represents the opinion of The Daily Universe editorial board. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of BYU, its administration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.