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Border Walls

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The history of humanity is one of perseverance in the face of suffering, wars, and the diminution of mobility rights. In the face of such tenacity, border walls have for centuries come to represent the ultimate tool of restriction while simultaneously allowing some semblance of security and order to prevail within the confines of a territory. From kingdoms of centuries past such as China’s Ming Dynasty and the Romans to the nation states today like Germany, Spain, and Israel, borders and walls exist as symbols of exclusivity, security, and identity. For example, the Great Wall of China was built in order to keep out the attacking hordes of their rivals (“History of Border Walls,” n.d., para. 1). In recent days, Donald Trump’s candidacy in the …show more content…

Generally speaking, the issue can be broken down into three streams. The first, sees unfettered immigration from Mexico (and South America) into the US as a major problem that is destabilizing various aspects of the American experience. For instance, authors such as Huntington argue that such migration is causing a “hispanization” of America which is fundamentally reshaping society at virtually every level. Others such as Gulasekaram (2011) acknowledge the flawed nature of a wall in stopping migrants and drugs but suggest that there are alternative reasons for building one nonetheless. For example, a wall would legitimize federal control over immigration policies and would justify swift action against violators (p. …show more content…

What is the success rate of other countries with problematic borderlands with walls? What is the fundamental purpose of building a wall along the US-Mexico border? What are the political, social, and physical challenges of building such a long wall? The opinion of this paper is that a wall would help but it is not a panacea. Instead, it must be a part of a holistic solution that addresses all the major factors. e.g. – legal issues about existing migrants, social problems such as integration and language, and the economic issues that force migrants to want to move to the US in the first

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