McCrea letter: Building the wall

Building a wall along the Mexican border is a real bad idea. Illegal immigration into the U.S. started to decline in 2006. In other words the number of illegal folks entering this country versus the number leaving is about equal. Building a wall along the entire length of the border is not going to have much of any effect on those numbers. In fact over 40 percent of the illegal immigrants in the U.S. are folks who travel here legally then overstay their visa. The 1950 mile-long border traverses some very remote and wild country. Not only would a wall have to be constructed but a road system would also have to be built. Building this wall would also be an environmental disaster because it is going to block the migration corridors for dozens of animals and in fact would eventually mean the end of some species being able to exist in the U.S. A wall would only be a Band-Aid and could be climbed by any determined person and would cost billions to construct and maintain it and be a political disaster as well. The wall on the border is a bad idea any way you look at it.

This story was originally published December 5, 2016 at 11:58 PM with the headline "McCrea letter: Building the wall."