The Negative Repercussionsof a “Yuge” Wall in America: U.S-Mexico BorderIncreasing border security has been an ongoing discussion in the United States for many decades, particularly in recent months since the 2016 election year. The elected president, Donald Trump, used this matter to garner supporters during his campaigning, and since elected, has still been a proponent with constructing a border wall between Mexico and the U.S. There is a notion from this perspective that with a higher and stronger border, undocumented immigration will halt and supposedly will allow America to be “great again”. The president elect initially sought for the funding of the wall to come from Mexico, nevertheless, that funding has now shifted to the U.S. Congress paying for it and claiming that Mexico in some form or another will reimburse the costs of the construction. Increasing border security through this “wall” however, will bring even greater conflicting issues such as environmental damage, increase the dangers of the lives of immigrants when attempting to cross, and unreasonable costs to create and sustain this wall.  The effects will negatively impact this nation’s reputation, building this wall is the wrong thing to do even though the “American thing to do” has been to increase border security. A group of people say a prayer, in Holtville, Ca. in a cemetery filled with unmarked graves of migrants who died in the desert trying to cross into the United States from Mexico.  (Photo Credit: ALEX PANETTA / THE CANADIAN PRESS) https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/28/donald-trumps-immigration-talk-faces-difficult-realities-at-mexican-border.html. Securing the Unites States borderbetween Mexico has been a developing matter through history since the Treaty ofGuadalupe was signed in 1848 that allowed the acquisition of new territory andthe Rio Bravo becoming the political border line between these two countries. Movementthrough this border has always been present, shifting in its increase due toeconomic hardships whether in Mexico or United States such as the braceroprogram where the U.S. requested help from Mexican farmers to work their landsdue to shortage of labor because of their involvement in World War II [1].However, Mexican immigration did not end once the war was done. President Eisenhoweradministration executed the Operation Wetback, “a governmental campaign thatforcibly repatriated 1 to 2 million Mexicans [whether undocumented or not]”[2]. Despitethe force, immigration from Mexico and Central America has yet continued. Beforethe 1990’s, immigration crossings in the U.S – Mexico border had waves comingin through urban crossing points such as El Paso – Ciudad Juarez, San Diego –Tijuana, McAllen – Reynosa, etc. Nonetheless, the United States governmentimplemented fence-buildings, closing off these urban crossings points,influencing a change of routes into dangerous points such as Arizona’s desert[3]. Withputtingup barriers at these points, “deaths in the border region have increased nearly150% as migrants enter through more remote and rugged terrain” in the lastdecade and half [4].Dead bodies of unknown immigrants have been found throughout these harshgeographic areas. As depicted in the picture, these graves show the sacrificethese immigrants will put their lives in[5]. Theconstruction of this proposed wall, will unquestionably further the risks thatimmigrants will challenge when trying to cross to the United States, still placingthemselves through deserts, underground tunnels, and even sea. Theseenvironmental situations have been counterproductive to the “securing”,alternatively, creating inhumane barriers for immigrants whose goal is to havea better life on the other side of the border.The proposed wall not only willcreate needless dangers to humans crossing attempts, but an environmental effectfor the flora and fauna found and living in this region.  Wildlife had not been thought through whenthese fences were implemented having to only take account humans as the focusfor these constructions, being “motivated by security concerns that areconsidered paramount over most other considerations”[6]. Sincethe border fences and security of the 1990’s, immigration crossings did notdecrease but rather shifted from urban areas to the remote areas where theecology is most concentrated[7]. Researchhas shown that the fence border that is suited between Mexico and the UnitedStates has indeed “disrupted movements and distribution of [for instance],animals such as the ferruginous pygmy owl and bighorn sheep and could isolatesmall populations of large mammals in Arizona, including black bears and pumas”[8]. Bybuilding the wall, it will disrupt evermore the ecology, inhibiting wildlife tomove naturally within its natural habitat[9]. Environmentalactivists and communities have been vocal over the repercussions that the wallwill bring to the environment and the dangers that the threatened andendangered species will have to face from this development. Species such as theocelot and jaguarondi (wild cats) that “are tropical species at the northernlimit of their natural habitat range, the barrier would …certainly expedite thedisappearance of these species from the U.S.”[10].However, the Trump administration has ignored these environmental consequencesin recent news. Even so this avoidance has been seen during the early 2000’s,where “federal legislation adopted [to sideline] all environmental laws such asthe Endangered Species Act” for the sake of not disrupting the “construction ofthe barriers”[11].Protecting the environment and preserving species in their natural habitatsallows for the ecosystem to flow accordingly, if disrupted, humans will beeffected since they’re dependent as well to these natural habitats. It would beselfish and vicious for humans who coexist with these variety of species toconstruct an artificial border that will knowingly harm them.  Photo of alleged smuggler transporting a Central American family to along the border near Mission, Texas in July 2014, Photo Credit by: John Moore/Getty Images http://latinousa.org/2014/09/12/smugglers/. The wall project that will stretch 2,000 miles will evidently create more damage but as well be costly and ineffective[12]. $21.6 billion has been a recent cost projection for the construction, with perhaps putting the United States into more debt[13]. This billion-dollar wall will not stop undocumented immigration since those who enter the United States come in with visa and outstay their visit, [outnumbering] those who cross the border without permission[14]. This gives an example of the forthcoming ineffectiveness of this wall that these billions of dollars will go into when comparing it to today’s border fence that hasn’t necessarily stopped undocumented immigrants from coming from the south of the border. Another matter as well, as Josiah McC Heyman explains in their journal, “human smugglers have apparently kept ahead of the government, despite the post-1993 tactical shifts, added technology, and the buildup of forces”[15]. Such as the picture above, these human smugglers or coyotes as they have been named as, have found ways in the last two decades with smuggling unauthorized immigrants into the United States, despite the increase of money and labor that has been put for the “securing” of the U.S. – Mexico border since its construction in 1993[16]. Immigrant individuals or families will give thousands of dollars to these coyotes to sneak them across the border, putting their lives into these individuals’ hands for a better life than the one they had in their home country.  In addition, patrolling the extent of this 2,000-mile border wall will need additional border patrol agents. The Trump Administration is considering hiring another 5,000 agents, significantly increasing their budget to hire, train and maintain these agents, with an estimate of $328 million for 2017 and 1.884 billion dollars for the year of 2018[17]. Hiring these much personnel will not come easy, these patrol agent applicants must go through extensive training and tough exams where hiring them can take about seven months[18]. With shortening and easing the processes, however, could do more harm than good since they will not have the adequate training to patrol rough and dangerous terrain. Thus, building this wall as Trump has been consistently vocal about doing will only bring predicaments to the United States economic condition, since this proposed funding will not bring much triumph with stopping undocumented immigrants from coming into the country. With this wall, it would only reflect irrational money waste to the eyes of the national and international public, disregarding other departments such as education and health that would most benefit and outweigh the 20-billion-dollar funding for the greater future of the country. Most undocumented immigrants who are coming from Mexico, Central America and other South American countries are trying to flee either poverty or violence or even both. It is human nature for people to want to push forward with their lives to seek a better future for themselves and/or families even if it means putting their lives at risk for days in the harsh terrain that this border is located at. Building this massive wall will not stop immigrants from trying to go over, under, or around it, but rather do more harm to the environment, economy and people. The “American Thing Do” has been to spend billions of dollars to not necessarily “secure” our border, but rather to stop people from seeking the American Dream. This nation has been built by immigrants and no shape and form will people stop immigrating to this melting pot of a nation. It is in the nation’s interests to change its perspective on immigration, a comprehensive immigration reform and assistance to these underdeveloped countries would do more justice for its self and other countries. Bibliography“Coyotes: Ten Things to About Smugglers.” September 12, 2014. http://latinousa.org/2014/09/12/smugglers/. Cohen,Deborah. Braceros: migrant citizens andtransnational subjects in the postwar United States and Mexico. ChapelHill: University of North Carolina., 2011. Dear,Michael J. Why Walls Won’t Work:Repairing the US-Mexico Divide. New York: Oxford University Press., 2013.DonaldTrump’s immigration talk faces difficult realities at Mexican border.” August28, 2016. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/28/donald-trumps-immigration-talk-faces-difficult-realities-at-mexican-border.html.Eriksson,Lindsay, and Melinda Taylor. “Impacts of the Border Wall Between Texas andMexico.” TW Wall, Obstructing HumanRights: The Texas-Mexico Border Wall, (2008): 1-10. https://law.utexas.edu/humanrights/borderwall/analysis/briefing-The-Environmental-Impacts-of-the-Border-Wall.pdf.Gaskill,Melissa. “The Environment Impact of the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall: In the RioGrande Valley, the barrier erected to keep out illegal immigrants is imperilingrare and endangered animal species.” Newsweek166, no. 8 (February 26, 2016): 54-56. OpposingViewpoints in Context, EBSCOhost.http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=e9e51cd2e42c448e88d8cc5ac3624520%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsgcl.443631894&db=edsgov.Gulasekaram,Pratheepan. “Why a Wall?.” UC Irvine L.Rev 2, no. 1(February 2012): 147-192. http://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr/vol2/iss1/6/.Heyman,Josiah McC. “Constructing a Virtual Wall: Race and Citizenship in U.S.-MexicoBorder Policing.” Journal of theSouthwest 50, no. 3 (2008): 305-334. JSTORJournals, EBSCOhost. http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.txstate.edu/stable/pdf/40170393.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:03dcbf2cfb793281ef5abf676db8e150.Hong,Kari. “The Costs of Trumped-Up Immigration Enforcement Measures.” Cardoza Law Review De Novo 2017, no. 119(January 2017): 121-154. LexisNexisAcademic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost.  http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=270077&sr=cite%282017%20Cardozo%20L.%20Rev.%20De%20Novo%20119%29.Hudak,John J., E. Kamarck, and C. Steinglein. “Hitting the wall: On immigration,campaign promises clash with policy realities.” Brookings (2017): 1-18. https://www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2017/06/gs_06222017_dhs_immigration.pdf.Trouwborst,A., F. Fleurke, and J. Dubrulle. “Border Fences and their Impacts on LargeCarnivores, Large Herbivores and Biodiversity: An International Wildlife LawPerspective.” Review of European,Comparative and International Environmental Law 25, no. 3 (November 1,2016): 291-306. Scopus®, EBSCOhost. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=a2835830314f4f338fb9f1660a8db1ff%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edselc.2-52.0-84994893895&db=edselc.  Warren,Robert, and Donald Kerwin. “The 2,000 Mile Wall in Search of a Purpose: Since2007 Visa Overstays Have Outnumbered Undocumented Border Crossers by a half aMillion.” Journal on Migration &Human Security 5, no. 1 (January 2017): 124-136. International Security and Counter Terrorism Reference Center,EBSCOhost.http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=85afe9ae40a84fbbb240e5d3e1b4af09%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=tsh&AN=125223798.[1] Deborah Cohen, Braceros: migrantcitizens and transnational subjects in the postwar United States and Mexico(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press., 2011): 1 [2] Ibid., 42.[3] Michael J Dear, Why Walls Won’tWork: Repairing the US-Mexico Divide (New York: Oxford University Press.,2013), 73. [4] PratheepanGulasekaram, “Why a Wall?,” UC Irvine L.Rev 2, no. 1(February 2012):155, http://scholarship.law.uci.edu/ucilr/vol2/iss1/6/. [5] “DonaldTrump’s immigration talk faces difficult realities at Mexican border,” August.28, 2016, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/08/28/donald-trumps-immigration-talk-faces-difficult-realities-at-mexican-border.html.[6] Arie Truwborst, FloorFleurke and Jennifer Dubrulle, “Border Fences and theirImpacts on Large Carnivores, Large Herbivores and Biodiversity: AnInternational Wildlife Law Perspective,” Review of European, Comparative AndInternational Environmental Law 25, no. 3 (November 1, 2016): 292, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=a2835830-314f-4f33-8fb9-f1660a8db1ff%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edselc.2-52.0-84994893895&db=edselc.  [7] Lindsay Eriksson andMelinda Taylor, “The Environmental Impacts of theBorder Wall Between Texas and Mexico,” TWWall, Obstructing Human Rights: The Texas-Mexico Border Wall, (2008):8, https://law.utexas.edu/humanrights/borderwall/analysis/briefing-The-Environmental-Impacts-of-the-Border-Wall.pdf.[8] Melissa Gaskill, “TheEnvironment Impact of the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall: In the Rio Grande Valley,the barrier erected to keep out illegal immigrants is imperiling rare andendangered animal species,” Newsweek 166,no. 8 (February 26 2016): 55, OpposingViewpoints in Context, EBSCOhost,http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=e9e51cd2-e42c-448e-88d8-cc5ac3624520%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=edsgcl.443631894&db=edsgov. [9] Ibid., 55. [10] Eriksson and Taylor,“The Environmental Impacts,” 6. [11] Truwborst, Fleurke andDubrulle, “Border Fences and their Impacts,” 292.[12] Robert Warren andDonald Kerwin, “The 2,000 Mile Wall in Search of aPurpose: Since 2007 Visa Overstays Have Outnumbered Undocumented BorderCrossers by a half a Million,” Journal onMigration & Human Security 5, no. 1 (January 2017): 124-126, International Security and Counter TerrorismReference Center, EBSCOhost, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=85afe9ae-40a8-4fbb-b240-e5d3e1b4af09%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=tsh&AN=125223798. [13] Ibid., 124. [14] Kari Hong, “The Costs of Trumped-Up Immigration EnforcementMeasures,” Cardoza Law Review De Novo2017, no. 119 (January 2017): 140, LexisNexisAcademic: Law Reviews, EBSCOhost,http://www.lexisnexis.com.libproxy.txstate.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?verb=sr&csi=270077&sr=cite%282017%20Cardozo%20L.%20Rev.%20De%20Novo%20119%29. [15] Josiah McC. Heyman, “Constructing a Virtual Wall: Race and Citizenship inU.S.-Mexico Border Policing,” Journal ofthe Southwest 50, no. 3 (2008): 316, JSTORJournals, EBSCOhost, http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.txstate.edu/stable/pdf/40170393.pdf?refreqid=excelsior:03dcbf2cfb793281ef5abf676db8e150. [16] “Coyotes:Ten Things to About Smugglers,” September 12, 2014, http://latinousa.org/2014/09/12/smugglers/. [17] John J. Hudak, ElaineC. Kamarck, and Christian, Stenglein, “Hitting thewall: On immigration, campaign promises clash with policy realities,” Brookings (2017): 8-9, https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/gs_06222017_dhs_immigration.pdf. [18] Ibid., 8. Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more