The Wall
Most of the people in the united states illegally did not walk across the mexican desert to get here.
This simple fact is continually ignored by Republicans. They don’t like facts.
Any kind of serious immigration reform isn’t going to involve a 600 mile wall across barren desert or a new Wetback brigade.
Look around – there aren’t any 600 miles border walls in existence because it’s not a cost effective way to curb illegal immigration.
The wall around Palestine is proposed to be 430 miles if/when complete, and besides running through populated areas and being declared by the Red Cross as violating the Geneva Convention, it’s purpose is to not stop immigration, it’s to stop violence between two groups who have been fighting for that territory for thousands of years. This is not the situation between US and Mexico.
The wall that was between East and West Berlin was 70 miles and an embarrassment to humanity.
The great wall of china crisscrossed for thousands of miles but was never used as an effective border and was built over hundreds of years by several emperors so don’t even bother.
Immigration reform is actually about visa reform, national record keeping, workers rights, hiring practices, security at airports/seaports/trainstations/highways and proper enforcement of laws already on the books.
It’s also about dealing with the sad truth that american’s don’t want (and can’t afford) to pay for food that was farmed and harvested by americans making a proper wage.
Comedian Ron White summarizing this nicely