On June 15, 2016 Donald Trump announced his bid to become the 45th President of the United States. One of his most memorable talking points was on illegal Mexican immigrants. He alluded that Mexico wasn't sending its best citizens and said, "I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall." This campaign promise is clouded with numerous problems and improbabilities, so I'll start with the first.
economists put the wall's price at least $25 billion
The Southern Border
The border between Mexico and the United States is 1,989 miles long. Donald Trump insists that his proposed wall would be inexpensive. So what's the price tag on his "impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall?" Trump puts the cost at around $8 billion to $12 billion. Here's where we encounter our first problem and it's a financial one. The United States spent $7 billion protecting 652.6 miles of the southern border and that was only for fencing. To build a wall to actually keep people out would be an architectural feat of it's own. Engineer Ali F. Rhuzkan estimates that the 1,954 mile wall would have to be made out of 12.6 million cubic yards of concrete. To give you some perspective that's over three times the amount used in constructing the Hoover Dam. You could "pave a one-lane road from New York to Los Angeles, going the long way around the Earth." Not to mention the 5 billion tons of reinforcing steel for the concrete. That's over 111 times more than what was used in the construction of the Empire State Building. Fact checkers and economists put the wall's price at least $25 billion. According to Trump Mexico will pay for this wall, though Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto says otherwise. Now on to our next problem that many people don't even consider.
it is the longest international border on Earth and is notoriously unguarded
The Northern Border
The border between Canada and the United States is much longer than the one with Mexico. At 5,525 miles, it is the longest international border on Earth and is notoriously unguarded. An astonishing 1,538 miles of it consists of the Alaska-Canada border. The United States Border Patrol has roughly 21,000 agents. In 2015 the Border Patrol agents' labor union said that only 40% of the southern 1,989 mile border was under "operational control." Here lies our potential problem. There are less than 400 agents guarding the northern border which is over two and a half times the size of the southern border. So you may be wondering why is that such a big deal since we don't have a real illegal immigration problem with Canada. You may also wonder what is the cause for concern since our northern neighbor is so far from Mexico.
due to our lack of agents and security on the northern border, migrants can soon fly into Canada and literally walk into the United States
Canadian Visa Requirements
Beginning December 1, 2016 Canada is lifting it's visa requirements for Mexican citizens. What does this have to do with Donald Trump's wall? Mexicans and other migrants from Latin America pay upwards of $3,000 to $4,000 for a guide to help them enter the United States illegally via the southern border. With steep prices such as those, acquiring a plane ticket from Mexico to Canada is much more financially feasible. I found a ticket from Mexico City to Toronto for $395, and that was round trip. This means due to our lack of agents and security on the northern border, migrants can soon fly into Canada and literally walk into the United States. The entire idea of a wall between the US and Mexico was to prevent this very thing from happening. So according to the Donald Trump ideology there should be "a great, great wall" between Canada and the United States as well. If you take the cost of Trump's Mexico wall at $12,794,268.16 per mile and multiply that by the 5,525 miles on the Canadian border, you're looking at almost $71 billion dollars for another wall...minimum.
I wonder if he's going to make Canada pay for that one too.