Great wall of Trump faces great hurdles
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A staggered fence or “wall,” costing $6.5 million per mile, runs along about 100 miles of Texas’ 1,254-mile border with Mexico.
WASHINGTON >> Can Donald Trump really make good on his promise to build a wall along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexican border to prevent illegal migration? What’s more, can he make Mexico pay for it?
Sure, he can build it, but it’s not nearly as simple as he says.
Constructing the wall, now a signature applause line at Trump campaign rallies, is a complicated endeavor, fraught with difficulties. Numerous bureaucratic, diplomatic, environmental, monetary and logistical hurdles must be overcome.
And forcing the Mexican government to foot the bill won’t be easy, especially since its president has flat-out refused.
A physical barrier between Mexico and the United States has been tried before.
During President George W. Bush’s second term, Congress authorized $1.2 billion to build several hundred miles of double-layer fencing but the government faced myriad obstacles. Private landowners objecting to buyout offers. There were environmental concerns and lawsuits.
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Some 650 miles of border fencing now sits on the border, including roughly 15-foot tall steel fencing in many urban areas that is designed to stop or slow border crossers on foot and vehicle barriers, which are shorter steel posts filled with cement and planted in the ground.
Just getting that built was a challenge and a new, taller wall like the one Trump wants would almost certainly face as much, if not more, opposition.
First, a 1970 boundary treaty governs structures along the Rio Grande and Colorado River at the Mexican border. It requires that structures cannot disrupt the flow of the rivers, which flow across Texas and 24 miles in Arizona and define the U.S.-Mexican border, according to The International Boundary and Water Commission, a joint U.S.-Mexican agency that administers the treaty.
Trump has said his wall will not need to run the full 2,100-mile length of the border, but even excluding those portions blocked by geographic features, there are serious issues.
In some places, treaty obligations and river flood zones would require the wall be built well into the United States, which would be awkward if the Mexican government is paying for it and overseeing the project. In addition to creating a sort of no-man’s land between the wall and the actual border, one government or the other would have to buy large amounts of private property as well as land owned by at least one Indian tribe whose territory straddles the border in southern Arizona.
In areas where the border is defined on dry land across New Mexico, most of Arizona and California, structures have to be built so that the wall doesn’t obstruct natural run off routes or otherwise induce flooding. Building in those areas can be complicated and costly. In sensitive sand dunes in Southern California, for instance, a “floating fence” had to be built to allow the natural movements of the dunes.
Then, there are the conservation issues. Groups such as Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club sued over parts of the existing partial fence. And, federal regulations could prevent or at least significantly delay or increase costs of construction in certain areas.
A total of 18 federally protected species may be found along certain sections of the California border and at least 39 federally endangered, threatened, or candidate species live along the Arizona border, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Presuming Trump can overcome all of these bumps, he must also contend with the cost and the diplomatic consequences.
Numerous fact-checking organizations have taken issue with Trump’s estimate that the wall would be built for $10 billion to $12 billion. And, they have rejected his contention that the wall could be funded by reducing the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico. Figures released by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Congressional Research Service indicate that the total cost of the current 650-mile fence has been $7 billion. And that doesn’t include maintenance and upkeep.
Trump has insisted that Mexico will pay for the wall, perhaps through fees on money that immigrants send home to their families, tariffs or other means. Fees would be wildly unpopular and tariffs would likely run afoul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The cost of such tariffs would also ultimately be borne by U.S. consumers.
Getting the Mexican government to pay for it outright is almost certainly wishful thinking.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said Monday that “there is no scenario” under which Mexico would pay for the wall and likened Trump’s rhetoric to that of Hitler and Mussolini. Former President Vicente Fox put it more bluntly: “I am not going to pay for that f—-ing wall.” Both Fox and another former president, Felipe Calderon, have also compared Trump to Hitler.
So there’s diplomatic ill will, a question the Congressional Research Service raised in 2009.
“Do the gains in border security outweigh the risk of alienating Mexico and Canada?” it asked. “Should the Mexican or Canadian government’s opinions or wishes be taken into account when border fencing is concerned? Given the need to coordinate intelligence and law enforcement activities at the border, should maintaining cordial working relationships with Mexico and Canada take precedence over sealing the border with physical barriers?”
And, on Wednesday, a group of Republican national security community members, including former government officials, blasted the idea.
“Controlling our border and preventing illegal immigration is a serious issue, but his insistence that Mexico will fund a wall on the southern border inflames unhelpful passions, and rests on an utter misreading of, and contempt for, our southern neighbor,” they wrote in an open letter.
32 responses to “Great wall of Trump faces great hurdles”
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Everything its simple when you are a dictator. Trump will ignore laws, treaties, and costs, even the U.S. Constitution. One of his first acts as dictator should be to erase the wording on the Statue of Liberty that welcomes the world’s less fortunate and replace it with “We got ours. Go away!”
Make America Great Again. Vote Trump 2016
Seriously??? Sarge22???? Voting Drumpf 2016 is to “Make America Great Again”??? Obviously, watching the debates AND hearing the debates have NOT made YOU comprehend how destruction this individual is. Not only for U.S. but globally! I don’t need to go into any details. However, listen AND read BEFORE casting your vote! It’s people like YOU who will follow Drumpf and will “NOT Make America Great Again”!!! YOUR posting is disturbing and pathetic!!
Trump bringing more voters into the GOP and the party wants them to vote for somebody else. No wonder Obama beat Romney.
Fortunatelay ah keep mah bumpah stickahs numbahed fo just such an emahgensay
The sad thing is that his pathetic supporters don’t understand that even if elected, he could not do most of things he has promised. He certainly loves the poorly educated!
The sad thing is all politicians make promises they can’t or will not do. The promises they do keep are wrought with fat, mis-management, and compromise to benefit special interest groups.
The reason The Donald receives such wide spread support is not so much what he says – – let alone the flaws in what he says – – but the identity and (forgive the expression) character of those who hold him in contempt. He has for many of his supporters made EXACTLY the right enemies. Nowhere is this more apparent than the scornful treatment he gets from the alleged “news” media which he in turn loathes and despises. Result: an unending cornucopia of free publicity, an unmatched gift of political manna from heaven for Trump. He LOVES playing the media like a violin and these arrogant twits never ever catch on.
Those who expect him to meekly apologize, run for cover and cower lest someone talk stink about him – – as most of the GOP-approved luminaries have done for more than a decade – – are going to have along wait.
You are totally in the dark. Trump and the media love each other. They have a truly symbiotic relationship. He provides free entertainment/content and draws viewers. They give him free airtime and cash in on viewership with more advertisers. It’s a win-win for both, and they’re both loving it.
HIE, you make an excellent point: both do profit from each other.
That said, the ‘news’ media loathe and despise Trump even as they feed off his bizarre statements as a way to sell their product. Trump knows how much he is hated and, unlike most gutless GOP panty waists, does not shrink, cower and apologize. Quite the contrary. He delights in infuriating those who have no choice but to give him all manner of free coverage, all in the name of profit exactly as you have observed.
Thus does Trump maintain the initiative, free to say what he pleases, strike where he pleases, and savor the torment he has inflicted.
It’s not that he hates the press; he hates a free press. They photograph, tape, video and otherwise record every word he says with impunity. Those diabolical reporters with their pens and recording devices report what they see and so have the chutzpah to make people like him accountable. The nerve. Waterboarding is too good. They ruin everything.
He’s already vowed to fight the First Amendment when he’s “in charge.” That is the stuff of would be dictators everywhere. Oh, excuse me, he won’t try to re-write the BOR, he’ll simply “open up” American libel laws so that anyone who’s rich enough (know anyone like that?) can effectively stifle anyone who is not.
Sorry, but the arrogant twittery is more apparent on those who expect the world to see them only on their own terms.
Yep, Trump’s own grandparents probably would have been sent back to Germany if Donald was president then. Talk is easy, especially when you have a mass of people eager to gobble up and believe everything you say.
Yes, talk is indeed easy. We’ve had seven years to witness exactly what that means..
Somehow I don’t think the people crossing the Southern border give a hoot about what is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.
Yes, whs1966, Trump might ignore laws, treaties, costs and even the U.S. Constitution, just as Obama has done to implement his radial ideas.
66 IRT your posting, omit the name Trump and replace it with Obama….because that’s who it sounds like your’re describing…..ie:Ignore Laws, treaties.costs,and even the US Constitution.lol
Oh? btw “I got a Phone and I got a Pen”
“I got a phone..” But is it an Obama phone?
When both the Republican Establishment and the Democratic Establishment attack the same candidate, you know you’ve found your guy. 🙂
I hope you two have a lovely marriage and live happily ever after. It is truly joyous when you’ve “found your guy. :)”
What a big mouth. Which military branch did he serve in? Did he fight in Nam?
Of course Trump loves this wall. It will require numerous acts of eminent domain, a power of government he absolutely loves.
It’s funny how “conservatives” are rallying to someone who shares little of their policy beliefs. Maybe those “conservatives” who are rallying to Trump are just authoritarians?
Choyd, with all due respect, it is not only conservatives. Democrats, including Americans of African Ancestry are crossing over to support him. Even Louis Farrakhan. Whoda thunk it?
You mean fake conservatives. Very little of what Trump is and does is Conservative.
And authoritarian types come from all walks of life. Look at yourself for example.
Now, now, Choyd.
Yours truly has tried to elevate the tone of this colloquy without resorting to ad hominem remarks. Surely such a challenge is not beyond you.
And no, not just ‘fake’ conservatives (whatever that might be), but actual conservatives who are now willing to roll the dice and hope The Donald does not disappoint.
How is he going to treat First Nations people’s rights when the border goes through their lands (Blackfeet on the Canadian border)?
You think Trump cares about the Constitution or any rights of anyone but himself? Have you seen how he’s gone about his business in the past 30 years?
It’s funny how those who claim Obama is a dictator (yet can’t do anything, how is that firearm confiscation going nutbags?) are now clamoring for a real one.
Choyd, with all due respect, you sound as if your are losing patience with some of your fellow contributors on this string. You might want to think about cutting them some slack. You might even discover something worthwhile they have contributed.
I have nothing but open contempt for most of you. And you especially have earned it with your massive lying and complete raging incompetence at things 2th graders can do. I know second graders can use google to research things. You have repeatedly demonstrated you cannot do what a 7 year old can.
You serve as nothing but an example as how the DOE has miserably failed people.
And your defense of an authoritarian who has few, if any, Conservative beliefs is quite telling as how little you really believe in your own stated ideology.
It’s bad when I agree with Sarge that none of the main party’s candidates should be voted for. You however, have no issues with a big government xenophobic fascist. Not that anyone is surprised Mr. “Rape is Not a Crime.”
Oh dear.
My my my.
/tsk/ /tsk/ /tsk/
I had SO hoped you might grow up and quit resorting to childish name calling.
Oh well.
It was not to be.
Looks like my karma ran over your dogma.
/… sigh …./
This merits special consideration:
choyd says: “I have nothing but open contempt for most of you.” And yet you invest the most precious resource you have, time, to hobnobbing with those unworthies you hold in contempt.
You must be a terribly lonely individual to have to marginalize and diminish yourself like this in order to garner the attention you need.
You are an object of considerable pity.
He could build a 2100 mile long Trump casino and pay for it by soliciting his minions for the funds.
Trump’s promise to build a wall is just a way of getting votes.