Throughout our nation’s history, immigration has led to many great things like new ideas and technologies. In fact, our country was founded by immigrants. Due to the high standard of living in the United States, immigrants searching for a better life view the United States as a prime opportunity to turn a new leaf and start a more prosperous life. Problems that are associated with illegal immigration include the hiring of undocumented workers, increased drug flow, and National Security. President Donald Trump believes he has the perfect solution to solve the immigration problem: a wall. Trump has realized that immigration is a key factor as to why our economy is struggling, and wants to have the construction begin as soon as possible. Donald Trump becoming President and the construction of a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States will have a positive effect on the United States’ economy because it will open more jobs opportunities for American citizens, less drugs will enter our borders, and the overall national security of our nation will be stronger. 

The first two questions that come to mind when a massive political project like this is proposed are, “How much is this going to cost?” and, “How are we going to pay for this?” Many Americans were wondering this when Trump first brought this onto his political platform. His answer to this question is he plans to make Mexico pay for it. According to CNBC.com, “Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said Congress will follow through on Trump's border wall order, and McConnell estimated it will cost $15 billion at most — he cited a range of $12 billion to $15 billion” (Drew). That’s not including the cost of securing and maintaining the wall, which will take another billion out of pocket every year. At first glance, it may seem nonsensical to think that a country would ever pay for something that would have a negative impact on them. However, the United States plans to use Mexico’s $60.7 billion trade deficit in order to force illegal immigrants out of our country. In order to make Mexico pay for the wall, the United States will, “impound all remittance payment derived from illegal wages, increase fees on temporary visas issued to Mexican CEO’s and diplomats; increase fees on all NAFTA worker visas from Mexico, and increase fees at ports of entry to the United States from Mexico” (Trump). Also, Trump plans to enforce what’s called a “border adjustment”, which would exempt exports while taxing imports. The border adjustment puts a tax on where a good is consumed rather than where it is produced. For example, if a lumber company ships wood to Mexico, the profit the lumber company makes from this transaction is not taxed. However, if a lumber company decides to buy wood from Mexico and use it within the United States, the profit they make from this transaction will be taxed. “Under the border adjustment, the United States would refund the tax on exports and charge it on imports — so the net revenue would be negative if we had a trade surplus, and positive if we had a trade deficit” (Thiessen). The border adjustment is just one of the many tactics Donald Trump plans to use to address the immigration problems the United States if facing.

The fact that the United States would not have to pay a dime for the construction of this wall adds to list of reasons as to why this wall will bring more positive things to this country than negative. Another factor to include when breaking down the costs of the wall is the $19 trillion debt our country is facing. Fortunately, our newly elected president is the owner of a multibillion dollar company, so his skills in creating jobs is among the most elite of his generation. This characteristic of having a lot of experience with business is what really separated Donald Trump from Hillary Clinton during their campaigns. Trump has received a lot of criticism for his lack of experience in politics. However, nobody dared to criticize his ability to create business and revenue. 

When illegal immigrants enter the country, they target job fields like landscaping, construction, and the restaurant business because they will do the long hours and hard work for less money than most American would. Also, these jobs don’t require much past experience or even a high school diploma. Companies hiring illegal immigrants is a completely separate problem, however the economic problem that stems from this is a portion of the money that companies write off for these illegal immigrants gets sent back to their families back across the border. Job loss has gotten so bad in over the past decade, that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “data shows that there are some 58 million working-age (16 to 65) native-born Americans not working — unemployed or out of the labor market entirely. This is roughly 16 million more than in 2000” (Camarota). The young, unskilled workers of our country are at the highest risk of job loss due to immigration, due to the fact that the immigrants will do the work for much cheaper. Although hiring undocumented immigrants is illegal, many companies still do it. Landscaping is a field of work that is dominated by undocumented illegal immigrants, specifically from Mexico. When a landscaping company needs to hire 100 people that are willing to work seven days a week for 12 hours a day for near minimum wage, the search can be difficult. This is why companies turn to undocumented immigrants that are desperate to provide for their families. Due to the fact that Mexican’s have dominated this field of work for past few decades, Americans now view themselves as too worthy for a job that requires you to work long hard hours. 

Immigration from Mexico is not the only place we learned to be concerned about. FBI statistics show that there are Islamic terrorist groups forming in Mexico, and are sneaking into the United States from there rather than across the Atlantic Ocean. Anthony Cave stated in his article on politicfact,com that “California Rep. Duncan Hunter said that U.S. Border Patrol agents caught at least 10 ISIS fighters on the border in Texas back in October 2014” (Cave). ISIS is an extreme terrorist group that poses a huge threat to our National Security, so all precautions must be taken to keep them out of our country. Any person living within our borders should read that statistic and immediately be questioning the strength of our national security. With the construction of the wall, Islamic terrorist groups will no longer view the United States and Mexican border as an easier method for terrorist attacks. Also after knowing that only 10 individuals were caught by US terror watch, it makes you wonder how many terrorists were able to make it through. In 2004, a former US army sniper, developed an experiment where he crossed a few miles into Mexico where he found an old smuggling route that leads directly into Arizona. During this journey, he was carrying a simulated nuclear bomb, and he was able to drive it all the way to the federal building in Arizona. They were not asked any questions nor were they stopped or seen by any officials during this process. This experiment did in fact raise question about overall border security. “In 2004, there were 9,500 Border Patrol agents on the southwest border. Today there are 17,500” (Richey). This experiment proves that more security is needed at the border. If an American can find a way to carry a bomb from Mexico into the United States, what makes you think a member of ISIS can’t do it?

Donald Trump begins his immigration reform by stating the three core principles: “A nation without borders is not a nation”, “A nation without laws is not a nation”, and, “A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation” (Trump). Following each principle, a short explanation is given. For the first principle, Trump comes right out and states, “There must be a wall across the border.” Trump is very direct and specific in his delivery throughout the entire document. For the second principle, Trumps states that all laws that are made must be enforced. With all of the problems in our nation’s cities, Trump made sure that bringing law and order to our country was at the top of his check list. For the third and final principle, Trumps explains that the well-being of American should come before the well-being of other nations. Trump has finally put his foot down and plans to address this problem with full force. The United States is viewed as a land of opportunity and freedom, and some of the illegal immigrants that pour into our country everyday abuse or nation’s laws and take these liberties for granted. It’s time that we stop providing for people who give us nothing in return. 

Throughout Barrack Obama’s two-year term, he nearly doubled our nation’s debt. “On January 20, 2009, when he was sworn in, the debt was $10.626 trillion. On January 20, 2017, it was $19.947 trillion” (Amadeo). Obama leaving office with this high of a trade deficit has left Trump with limited options for government spending. Trump plans to solve our nation’s massive debt problem by bringing more jobs and businesses back to the U.S. However, immigration also plays a huge in our nation’s job market. Illegal immigration creates a cycle in the job market that has made Americans shy away from the jobs that immigrants occupy. Due to the fact that illegal immigrants will do work for much cheaper, the working conditions don’t meet the standards of most Americans. Businesses are then forced to rely on the illegal foreign workforce, and the cycle continues on. There are some Americans that believe that there are some jobs in the U.S. that are meant for only immigrants. People refer to these occupations as “immigrant jobs.” This belief is entirely false; immigrants and native workers compete for the same jobs. There are also many legally documented immigrants that chose these job fields due to their lack of education. If they are fortunate enough to migrate to the United States at a young age, education can become an option, which is yet another problem associated with immigration. Native workers are just at a huge disadvantage because employers can pay the immigrants much less for the same work. What needs to happen is the lazy Americans who think they are too deserving to work a job as a landscaper or a construction worker need to fill the spots of the illegal workers. This belief has allowed these fields of work to become completely dominated by the minority, which means less work and money for the United States. 

As the number of illegal immigrants that enter the United States increases, the amount of violence and drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin increases as well. According to the Mexican government, “12,903 people were killed in drug-related violence in the first nine months of 2011” (CNN). Cities like Juarez that lie on the border of Mexico and the United States are susceptible to violence just because their geographical location is closed to the border. Cities that are close to the border to much more susceptible to violence due to all the drugs that passed through.  The large amount of drugs and other illegal goods and services that enter our borders has created a black market that has an estimated value of $200-$750 billion size per year. Black markets affect our nation’s economy because money from the black market flows in and out of real markets. However, the most significant effect that black markets have on our economy, that seems to be a reoccurring problem that stems from immigration, is unemployment. If the amount of people that work in the black market employed themselves in the real market, and the black market was destroyed entirely, then the billions of dollars within the black market would enter back into our economy. Aside from the economic concerns of having more drugs enter our country, there is an obvious health concern with all the drugs that enter our country. According to the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the Monitoring the Future National Survey, “More than 680,000 people used heroin at some point during the last year in 2013—a number that has steadily risen from over 370,000 in 2007” (Maclaren). The massive amount of drugs that enter our country from Mexico has made drugs like cocaine and heroin very accessible. After examining the amount of drugs that enter our borders, the snowball-effect of problems that stem from immigration becomes clear. The drugs that illegal aliens carry with them into our country not only hurt our already-suffering economy, but millions of families all throughout our country.

Living in the United States is a blessing, which is why we must be careful as to who we allow into our country. Many people stand against the construction of the wall, claiming it’s the “most idiotic thing I’ve ever seen,” said billionaire Jorge Perez. Imagine growing up in a country where since the moment you were born, the opportunity for freedom and success is near impossible, and the only hope for liberation is through illegally migrating to another country like the United States. It’s different when you look at it from the other side, however, the well-being of American’s must be prioritized before the lives of illegal immigrants. Some people believe that the wall is a complete waste of money, and that the money invested into the wall should be spent to help the people already living in our country. This money saved could be used to build schools and hospitals, or be used to help our nation’s veterans. 

The construction of a wall to stop illegal immigration is only the beginning of a long restoration for the United States economy. The immigrants that come into our country are not here to benefit us. They are here for themselves and their families back home where they came from. The United States has become the home for people who are unable to provide for their families elsewhere. As Donald Trump said, “We are going to have a beautiful door in the wall”, meaning people are welcome to come into our country legally. It’s important to realize that the United States is struggling both economically and socially. Unemployment is increasing and we are the most culturally separated we’ve been in decades. Some see the wall as a preposterous solution to our nation’s immigration problems, however illegal aliens enter this country every day and take advantage of the rights that the citizens of country have fought so long and hard for. Being an American is something to be proud of, however it something you cannot take for granted. The construction of a wall on the border of the United States and Mexico will have a positive impact on our nation’s economy because there will be less drugs entering our country, less illegally documented workers will be in the workforce, and our national security will be at an all-time high.  The wall may not be the permeant solution to illegal immigration, however it will slow down the number of yearly immigrants. Some Americans have given the ultimate sacrifice in order to secure the rights that we are so fortunate to have and illegal immigrants come into this country every day with the intention of abusing those rights for their benefit, with nothing to stand between their way. 
