Stephen LENDMAN
Fortress Israel reveals the delusion and folly of great wall protection, encircling the country irresponsibly, spending billions of dollars, escalating apartheid ruthlessness, accomplishing nothing except greater hostility between Arabs and Jews.
Trump’s proposed great wall along America’s southern border is ill-conceived. It risks harming relations with Mexico.
It’s counterproductive, unlikely to stem the immigration tide. Desperate people, harmed by the ravages of NAFTA and other issues, will continue heading north.
They’ll breach the great wall, tunnel under it, or travel by water to reach America’s west or gulf coasts – the way Middle East and North African refugees and asylum seekers reach Europe.
Trump saying “(a) nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders” is demagogic bluster. His 10-point plan includes:
“1. Begin working on an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border, on day one. Mexico will pay for the wall.
2. End catch-and-release. Under a Trump administration, anyone who illegally crosses the border will be detained until they are removed out of our country.
3. Move criminal aliens out day one, in joint operations with local, state, and federal law enforcement. We will terminate the Obama administration’s deadly, non-enforcement policies that allow thousands of criminal aliens to freely roam our streets.
4. End sanctuary cities.
5. Immediately terminate President Obama’s two illegal executive amnesties. All immigration laws will be enforced – we will triple the number of ICE agents. Anyone who enters the US illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country.
6. Suspend the issuance of visas to any place where adequate screening cannot occur, until proven and effective vetting mechanisms can be put into place.
7. Ensure that other countries take their people back when we order them deported.
8. Ensure that a biometric entry-exit visa tracking system is fully implemented at all land, air, and sea ports.
9. Turn off the jobs and benefits magnet. Many immigrants come to the US illegally in search of jobs, even though federal law prohibits the employment of illegal immigrants.
10. Reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, keeping immigration levels within historic norms.”
Separately saying “(t)he day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc. We are going to get them out, and we’re going to get them out fast” is a declaration of war on Latino and Muslim immigrants, human beings deserving respect and compassion.
He wants 5,000 more Border Patrol agents (increasing their numbers to 26,000), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents tripled to 15,000 – money misspent, vitally needed for healthcare, education and other vital social services.
His executive order states his Homeland Security secretary “shall take all appropriate action and allocate all legally available resources to immediately construct, operate, control, or establish contracts to construct, operate, or control facilities to detain aliens at or near the land border with Mexico.”
It includes a detailed menu of what he wants accomplished. His actions against Latinos and Muslims assure making more enemies than friends. They’re ill-conceived, likely doomed to fail.
