One of the biggest discussions and plans of President Trump’s presidential term is the border wall and funding border security. The idea of the wall will come with pros and cons. The topics I’ll be talking about are Democrats supporting a border wall in the past, the crime rate, and drug and human trafficking.

People who disagree with the president on the border wall don’t know that when Obama was a senator, Politifacts Article titled ‘Did top Democrats vote for a border wall in 2006’ by Allison Graves states that he and the Democrats in 2006 voted for and supported a wall that stretched 700 miles. Sure, it wasn’t during his presidential term but he still supported it. The amount of criminal activity has decreased in that area since the 700-mile long wall was built.  

Recent studies released by the Department of Justice show that of the 183,058 inmates held in custody, 38,132 or 21% were known or suspected illegal aliens. Of the crimes committed in the USA, 21% of murders and 74% of drug-related crimes were committed by illegal aliens.   Some people don’t think it's a big deal but American citizens are dying and being brutally murdered from illegals with criminal pasts. Reported on BPR news an illegal immigrant by the name of Carlos Eduardo who had a long criminal past killed 59-year-old Bambi Larson who was a mother of one. No American citizen should die a brutal death because of someone with a criminal record illegally entered the US.  ICE wanted to deport him but California state sanctuary said no. What statistics have proven is that the number of illegals entering has become an all-time high. If we build the wall it’ll be an obstacle in the road for people illegally crossing the border.

I never realized how much money undocumented immigrants cost Americans in taxes until I researched it. In a 2018 MSNBC news article titled ‘How much does illegal immigration cost America’ by Jane C. Timm, estimated that in 2013 that undocumented immigrants cost American citizens about $54 BILLION in services received! That price has risen significantly since. What happens is that a lot of the undocumented immigrants that come to the US (NOT ALL but some) are poor and enroll in government systems that taxpayers pay for; welfare, housing, schools, etc.  This is why President Trump needs to take action and put more funding into Border Security. Drug smuggling is a big problem that needs to be resolved ASAP.

Smuggling drugs into the US have been an issue brought up plenty of times.   Drugs are easily brought into the US through our open borders. They distribute harmful drugs that feed to the awful addictions people have. Drugs ruin people’s lives but distributors don't care, all they care about is money. Citizens die from overdosing on drugs that are mostly coming from Mexico. This is another reason why we need to fund for better inspections and more productive border security, in addition to a barrier on the border.

What we need to take into consideration is how will a border wall impact people and even the economy? The 1,954-mile stretch would help keep drugs and criminals out, as well as keeping human trafficking down.  The way our current immigration laws are written, it encourages criminals to bring children. Children are being kidnapped and terrible things are happening to them when they make their way to the border.

Every citizen of the United States has to follow the law, and people who are not citizens should follow our laws and come legally. I support the border wall to ensure the American people are safe from criminals, drug traffickers, and to ensure those individuals that want to be Americans are not harmed in the human trafficking rings that are currently being exploited by our current border policies. I wonder why should these illegal immigrants budge in line for those individuals following our laws and who are currently waiting to be granted access to the United States of America?