Cost of Trump’s “Vanity” Wall

The Trump administration wants to enforce a wall on the 1,933 mile border between the United States and Mexico. Under Bill Clinton a 14 mile wall was constructed. Then, President George W. Bush built another 654 miles of physical barriers (wall and fences). About 130 miles of the border has natural barriers, so that leaves about 1,135 miles left to cover.

Many different cost estimates have been thrown around:

	President Trump	Paul Ryan (former Speaker)	Homeland Security	Washington Post	Senate Democrats’ Report
USD billion	12	15	22	25	70

As a U.S. statistician worked out, the physical cost of the wall could actually be in the region of USD25 billion. And over 12 million people who live 100 miles of the border will be impacted in very significant ways. A wall also will not help to stem drug trafficking. Over 95% of drugs entering the U.S. is through container ships or other vessels.

And will Mexicans pay for it? Remittances from the U.S. by Mexican families amount to USD20-25 billion annually. But this cannot be seized. It has devastating effects on both U.S. and Mexico. The remittances reduce the incentive for further immigration to the U.S. – precisely what Trump wants to do! The real question the American public should be asking is not how much the wall is going to cost but what is the best way to secure U.S. borders from illegal activity like human and drug trafficking.

References

1.         Trump’s Border Wall – how much it will actually cost according to a statistician

            (https://www.foxnews.com)

2.         The Wall, Vanda Felbab-Brown, August 2017

            (https://www.brookings.edu)

3.         https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46805568