My students and I were studying China and the Mongols this week. We learned about how the Chinese over the centuries built the greatest, most fortified wall the world has ever seen. We learned that it was a dismal failure in keeping the northern nomads out of China. In fact, in the 13th Century the Mongols would storm over the wall, rip away the Mandate of Heaven from the Song dynasty and create the Yuan dynasty with Khubilai Khan as supreme leader over the Han Chinese.And this got me thinking. If the longest, widest, strongest, most fortified wall in human history could not keep out immigrants...what makes Dubya think that a 7,000 mile wall made of corrugated aluminum will keep Mexicans from crossing the Rio Grande?
The most fortified and guarded segment of our border is south of San Diego and yet that is exactly where more border crossing take place than anywhere else...according to the U.S. Border Patrol Agency. If you build a twenty-foot wall...I would advise buying stock in twenty-one foot tall ladders because that will be a hot seller in Mexico once this wall is built.
The whole thing is an election year scam. The bill passed by the Republicans and signed by Bush appropriates no money for this wall. What? Another unfunded mandate from the Bush Administration? There has not even been a financial feasibility study done on this wall. No government cost estimates. The only funds authorized call for a one BILLION dollar downpayment for the project. And that's just the downpayment!
We are going to spend billions for a wall that will not work. This is simply a way to strengthen the election chances for Republicans running next week. "Vote for me...I'll keep those Mexicans out of our country!"
Illegal immigration is a real problem that needs to be addressed seriously. Building a wall is a short-sighted and lazy way to deal with this problem. Real solutions that take actual thought and dialogue need to be discussed in a serious bi-partisan manner by our government. Both parties need to do the hard intellectual labor of coming up with long term solutions. Let's help Mexico strengthen their economy so people won't want to leave for America. Most of these immigrants don't want to make the dangerous and difficult journey north. They feel no other option exists to keep their families alive.
Let's come up with better ways to enforce the laws on the books. Let's come up with compassionate measures to help our neighbors to the south. Let's use our brains. Instead of empty and expensive measures...let's do some real thinking. Unfortunately that takes real leadership...something not seen in the White House or Congress in a very long time.
