Trump’s Immigration Long Game
Trump‘s border policy was one of the most controversial issues that made him the center of national attention during the news cycle leading up to the 2016 election. His radical and unashamed defense of the American border was shocking to many Republicans and Democrats alike. He seemed to have stepped away from the American ideal of constant allowance of immigration for those seeking a better life. He distinguished between current citizens and new immigrants with a strength rarely seen in the 21st century. He appeared to be attacking the statue of liberty herself as she tried to protect the huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.
Whether Trump intends to or not, his border policy could save a massive amount of government money. Perhaps it started with the idea of pandering to his base, but it will end in a better outcome for most Americans.
Trump’s plan can cut costs in three different ways. The first is by reducing long-term border spending through the construction of a wall. While not fully powerful to stop all intruders, a wall will make the policing of large remote areas much easier, and force potential immigrants to create increasingly elaborate schemes such as tunnels or beach landings. The wall expansions will be costly during his administration, but will provide a base layer of protection for future administrations. The wall can reduce costs through physically limiting migrants from crossing the border as well as decreasing costs of border maintenance. A wall needs less manpower to police than the alternative of an open gap.
The second way that Trump will cut costs is by creating a political environment that more strongly disincentivizes illegal border crossing. Public warnings against illegal immigration and the threat of deportation will reorient the decisions of people who might have come in an environment more friendly to illegal border crossing. Particularly in comparison to the supportive or indecisive environments of the Biden and Obama administration, Trump creates an unfriendly environment that makes the prospect of an American life as an illegal alien much less interesting. A reduction in hospitality means that it will be cheaper to maintain the border as the sheer volume of people attempting to cross will sharply diminish. Those who attempt to cross will now be a particularly motivated subset of the previous border-crossing population. Trump’s real consequences for illegal immigration will add force to the hostile ideological environment and decrease border spending over the next four years. In the short term deportations will be costly, but the reduction of immigration interest that they will cause means that deportations can be more limited in the future.
The third way that Trump will cut costs through his border policy is by reducing avenues for illegal immigrants to receive government money. According to testimony in Congress “Americans now pay $150.7 billion dollars annually due to illegal immigration. This figure represents a net cost. In terms of gross expenditures due to illegal immigration, we estimate that Americans pay $182 billion. Approximately $31 billion is received from illegal aliens in taxes, only 17 percent of the costs they create.” Rather than being punished for their actions, illegal immigrants are actively rewarded. While they come from horrific situations and into a country with a broken immigration system, they cannot be supported after breaking their new country’s laws. Trump plans to crack down on sanctuary cities and thus reduce the amount of taxpayer money spent on supporting illegal aliens. Money spent supporting people who came here illegally could be rerouted towards real refugees, or just given back to taxpayers in the form of reduced taxes.
While Trump’s tariffs will definitely hurt the economy, at the very least his immigration plan could regain some losses in the long term. Trump is seen as a radical by many, and in this circumstance he is only a radical in his departure from very recent history. Trump‘s desire to return to a stronger border would be seen as completely reasonable to most people throughout history. Strong immigration has always been one of the bases of America’s strength, but this requires competent border enforcement. The nation was developed from its youngest stages by first generation immigrants. People who saw the damages of government overreach and wanted to take responsibility for their own lives came to America. They rejected the oppressive burden of the states They came from in favor of ownership and responsibility in America. The ambition that they brought to America kept the young spirit of the country perpetually alive and reinvigorated a national desire for freedom. These immigrants would agree with Trump’s border policies because he is reducing the government burden on current citizens, and also ensuring that new immigrants are bought into the success of America. Allowing some illegal freeloaders to thrive in America will only create more freeloaders. It is disrespectful to immigrants of the past to equate them with people of questionable motives and legality. The best thing we could do to continue the American tradition of call immigration is to disincentivize illegal immigration and replace it with a simplified system of legal entrance.
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