It’s 2016 and the presidential elections are just around the corner, which means that there are a bunch of articles being published daily over which candidate will destroy America. Donald Trump seems to be a popular choice in that area, or at least he is for Michael R. Strain and Douglas S. Massey, who each wrote their own unique articles. Their articles “The Surprising Reason Donald Trump’s Wall Would Be a Waste of Money” by Massey, and “Donald Trump’s Immigration Plan Would Cause U.S. Citizens to be Deported” by Strain, tore down his infamous idea to build a wall bordering Mexico. Both articles contrasted the reasons for Trump’s wall, Massey utilizing statistics and Strain using opinions to convince the audience that the wall idea needs to be torn down.
Both Strain and Massey made an article bashing Donald Trump’s plan, doing a
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They don’t credit their sources too often and that makes the statistics they pour out seem a little less believable. For instance, Massey uses many facts with numbers, such as “From 1985 to 2010, the U.S. spent $35 billion in real terms on border enforcement only for the rate of undocumented population growth to double.” But he doesn’t explain where he got these numbers, making his word seem less credible than when he does name his sources. Strain also doesn’t credit sources well. The only one cited from his entire article is a 2011 paper written by a Northwestern University professor named Jacqueline Stevens.
Though the topic is the same, both authors go about their sides differently. For example, Strain doesn’t use as many statistics and sources as Massey. Instead states his own opinions like they are facts, such as when Strain said “Look, illegal immigration is a hard and serious issue. There are a