Quote (bogie160 @ Apr 12 2021 05:34pm)
There wasn't a need. He successfully lobbied the Mexicans to contain the problem.
In my opinion, Biden should apologize for misreading the situation and creating an unnecessary crisis on our border. It's good that he has tacitly acknowledged his mistake and that his predecessor simply had the more intelligent policy. But it would go a long way towards unity to hear him say it.
Not really. Trump didn't have the competence to solve the problem because it requires a mix of diplomacy and actual security. Trump treated symptoms and not the root cause. We still have illegal immigrants coming to this country and he even USED illegal immigrant labor. As far as I'm concerned, he used this as a wedge issue and didn't actually care about the border.
I agree that the border situation in its present state is untenable but I'm willing to give the administration some time. Also, I don't think the GOP wants unity. Any sort of bipartisan win will be considered a win for the administration and that would hurt the GOP's prospects. I also don't think the GOP base wants unity since they see the Democrats as an existential threat. Be honest, do YOU even want unity?
Quote (Black XistenZ @ Apr 12 2021 05:14pm)
The problem with building a wall on Mexico's southern border would be two-fold. First, the US officially funding it would be an acknowledgement of tough border policies, which goes contrary to the rhetoric of the Democrats and the "abolish ICE" sentiment of its lefty activist base. Second, it would open the country up to being blackmailed by Mexico. "Maintenance of this wall, from which you benefit so greatly, is oh-so expensive. Be a shame if a lack of funding would lead to migrant waves pouring through and arriving on your borders..."
Here in Europe, we're having this exact same problem: in 2015, our foolish leaders allowed the dam to break and triggered a tidal wave of third world illiterates and fortune seekers pouring into Europe. To make matters worse, they got trapped by their own feel-good rhetoric about human rights, enrichment and so on, making it politcally unfeasible to reverse this disastrous course themselves. To save face, they had the "brilliant" idea of asking Turkey to keep a lid on the most crucial part of Europe's southern border. Erdogan of course expects lavish payment for doing Europe's dirty work and reminds us every couple of months that he has us by the balls in this regard.
Now, Mexico is not Turkey and its president seems a decent guy, not a lunatic wannabe-caliph like Erdogan, but the strategic vulnerability would be the same. Protecting the integrity of its own territory from any kind of unwanted entrants is one of the most basic and vital tasks of a state. Outsourcing this task is asking for trouble. The West imho should come clean and be honest about its motives: "we do not want to take in huge amounts of poor people from third world countries".
Why couldn't we make a deal with Mexico where our own security helped man the wall with Mexican security? A skilled diplomat would be able to accomplish this.