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Dear Texas Standard,
My name is Julie Speed and I live in the Big Bend very near the Texas/Mexico border.
While driving along the river road we all – no matter what our politics – look out at the land and laugh at the absurdity of the idea of building a wall out here.
Building a wall along the 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico was a signature plank of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. His win in November is bringing the reality of that proposal into focus.
The U.S. has 650 miles of existing barrier and Texas has the most border left open.
I keep hearing people from other places taking it seriously … like it’s something that you could do if you wanted to. Could you please do a show on the practical aspects?
For example, land condemnation – how many acres would need to be taken over and how much money would that cost?
What about wildlife and livestock issues? What would the construction challenges be? And, ultimately, what would the consequences of all that be for Texas?
In this special report, the Standard speaks with local officials, business owners, landowners and residents living and working along the border. We explore how the community in south and west Texas transcends the border. We ask about the logistics of building a wall, what Trump’s proposal means to Mexicans living across the border, how the wall would affect wildlife in the area and what a wall would mean for those working in border protection.
Tune in on Jan. 9.
The border wall is our only option to stop the influx of people from Mexico who choose to enter the US illegally with a total disregard for our laws. It is not this country’s responsibility to take in illegal immigrants and provide for them. We already are saturated with our own unemployed citizens who depend on government funds in order to live.
The way to stop this to enforce and strengthen the employment laws. If the employer faces $100,000 per incident, they will not give them jobs. If they can’t get jobs, they will go back on their own. All the other stuff is just wasted money and promises to government contractors. This also means that YOU MUST VERIFY THAT YOUR HOUSEKEEPER IS ALSO IN COMPLIANCE. This also means that the main contractor and any and all subcontractors will pay the fine.
The proposed “Wall” is the most idiotic waste of public time and money ever conceived .
Look…I don’t blame anyone from a 3rd world country that wants to come by it legally and safe (for the U.S.) If we can not control or count the number of people coming into our country. IT won’t be long until we look like the tv adds asking for pure drinking water,food,and schools.Our country has only so much land.So it will only sustain so many people.How can we plan for the future if we can to control it? If a wall is the best tool to do this then, Let’s build it. But there has to be consequences for the people coming here illegally.I can’t go to Mexico without a visa.I can’t go to Canada without a visa. Why do so many people think it’s okay to swim a river and enter our country not without a visa but without any form of identity?They will fall into the cracks and live in the shadows. So the wall may not be the best I don’t know. But if it does cut down on the illegals from coming here .Let’s build it.
No one has all the answers so we have to choose the best one.We can not continue to let legal aliens across our borders We will grow so fast that we will look like Somala