The Sunday Morning Post (V.1; #4) *: Bored with The Wall

I have engaged in a long correspondence with a dear friend who is retired and living across the Mersey from Liverpool.  We’ve kept each other updated on all of the political shenanigans on both sides of the pond.  She discusses Brexit and I tell her about everything else.  She asked this in her most recent letter:

“It’s all very worrying isn’t it?  That wall issue.  How does it work?  Can the President, any president for that matter, just make a decision like that and carry it through.  Doesn’t it have to go to a vote or something?  Or am I being ignorant here?” 

 

I am in the process of writing a response to her.  It briefly answers her question before I go into my slightly left-of-center rant.  Anyway, I though I would include it here for the blogosphere consideration.

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I wish I had better news as well about our government over here, but the President seems to hit a new low every day.  No, you are not ignorant of what he can and cannot do.  He needs to get Congressional approval for just about anything he wants to do.  On the other hand, the President seems to be the one who is the most ignorant about the nuances of the Constitution which he has sworn to uphold.

Since day one when he announced his campaign, the President has demonized Mexicans and others from Central and South America much like Hitler demonized and scapegoated the Jews in the 30s.  The people coming up to our southern border should be seen as refugees escaping hellish economic and human rights conditions.  Instead, the President and the fear mongers at Fox News has convinced his followers that these people want to do nothing more than deal drugs and cause mayhem and murder.

I can see why the President and his followers want a wall at the southern border.  I will violate my recent vow to not state his name in correspondence at this point, but to be fair, Trump made his living as a real estate developer building hotels and housing.  These are tangible, solid objects which any of us can point to as his accomplishments.   A wall would be just one more feat he can brag about.

So much of immigration policy is not visible to the public at large.  What could we see as a positive result of the traditional American immigration policy? A second-generation immigrant graduating with an advance degree?  A hard-working adult (male or female) trying to provide for his family, or sending their earnings back home?  These examples are nice, but they aren’t easily seen by many people. It usually takes years for any person to achieve these goals.  Yet any policy that helps people achieve these goals is the right thing to do.

That said, I am against the idea of a wall.  It runs counter against the ideals of the Statue of Liberty.  We’ve always been an open society, welcoming all to our shores.  I don’t think we can have the Statue of Liberty at one end saying “welcome” and a wall at the other end saying “you’re not welcome here.”  It would be like serving two masters, to use a biblical phrase which the evangelical Christians should understand but won’t.

A wall will also backfire on us if we believe it will keep terrorists out.  Groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS could use the wall as a recruitment tool to the disenfranchised young people all over the world.  They will point to the wall and say, “See!  America does not want you.   Join us to defeat the Great Satan.”  The wall could end up being very useful to those who hate America.

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So, those are my thoughts on The Wall.  I’m also telling my friend that this conflict is still in its early stages despite everyone being exhausted with what’s happened already.  So be it!  Doubtless we will be drawn into a new chapter of this saga as early as next week, or perhaps even tomorrow. 

(Thank you for reading.  Perhaps it’s time for a sound proof barrier around the White House.  There’s too much bad noise coming out of there.)