Essay on Donald Trump: The Power That We Receive

The power someone obtains can be used for good or bad. Power can often be abused by those who it has been bestowed upon. When someone gets elected to be president, that person has a duty to fulfill in the best interest of the country and what the country stands for. America has always been a country where people are able to start over their lives for the better. When people talk about America, they often compare it to other countries because of the freedom America has. Many families that have contributed greatly to the growth of America have come from other countries. To try and take someone’s opportunity at freedom and a fresh start can be considered as immoral. President Trump makes many excuses as to why there should be a wall between Mexico and the United States. He mainly focuses on keeping illegal immigrants out. Trump should not build the border wall because of wildlife endangerment, finances, and inhumane treatment. 

Trump has had little regard considering the animals surrounding the borderlands, and the animals would be put in grave danger if the wall is built. Michael Brune explains that “the 2,000-mile frontier between the United States and Mexico encompasses wetlands, deserts, and mountains.” This shows that there should be multiple variations of animals all throughout the borderlands. Brune also states “The borderlands are home to more than 1500 native plants and animal species, many of which are endangered or threatened, including jaguars, ocelots, antelope, bison, and wolves.” Animals have always contributed to society whether they are considered pets or wild animals.

The wildlife that are found throughout the border are part of the environment which is important. Even though Trump is not directly pointing a gun at the animals, he is killing them off by placing the wall because “walls and other barriers cut wildlife off for food and water sources” (Brune). The border also contains many endangered species that scientist and wildlife preservers would like to see increase population instead of dying off. The animals are living things and deserve to be treated as such instead of being treated as an obstacle to overcome. Brune states that the “Bulldozers tearing through willands is just the first environmental danger posed by border militarization,”(Brune) which suggest that there will be other problems other than wildlife endangerment.

Trump should also not build the wall due to the finances the border wall will require in order to be built. Trump has proposed that the country of Mexico will be the one to provide finances for the wall to be built. As David Bier states that “when he presented a proposal to Congress to fund the wall’s construction in January, he continued to insist that Mexico would repay the United States. For his part, Mexican President Enrique Nieto has said that he refuses to pay for any portion of the wall.” This goes to show that Trump does not have a legitimate plan on finances to pay for wall. If Trump continues to try and force that process of the wall, the citizens of the United States will feel the consequences of that choice.

The United States citizens would eventually have to pay for the wall themselves as Bier claims that “Even if that were to happen, it is simply inaccurate to claim that America’s Southern neighbor would be paying for the wall, since the revenue would be coming from U.S. consumers. If the United States impose a tax on Mexican imports, then people in America buying Mexican goods, from beer to cars, will cover it.” Many products that come to the U.S. are imported from Mexico, so the wall will affect tariffs and taxes passed on to U.S. citizens. So either way if Mexico pays or does not pay, America will still suffer from cost of it. Bier informs that “An internal Department of Homeland Security report from Feb. 2017 concluded the project would cost $21.6 billion for ‘a series of fences and wall’ along 1250 miles of border and these are solely upfront construction costs. They don’t include ongoing maintenance, which has accounted for roughly half the price of the existing barriers over a decade.”

 $21.6 billion is just an estimate of what is to come for taxpayers. Others will argue that the taxes will not rise greatly, but the people who barely can pay their bills will have to endure another amount of taxes for something they might not even support. Taxes will also try to be opposed on Mexico, but “Trump repeatedly threatened to impose a border tax on Mexican goods, and even to engage in a trade war, in order to comply with his campaign promise to bring back American jobs” (Anderson). If Mexico and the U.S. goes back and forth on tax wars, many imports might not be available to access. The U.S. depends on an abundant amount of imports coming from Mexico, however, the U.S. might have to go to other countries to supply them with these imports because of tax and trade wars that might be created from the wall’s finance problems. 

Finally, The border wall production should not continue due to the fact of inhumane treatment. America was originally founded based on the idea of people from all types of cultures finding freedom and escaping heartaches and oppression from from former countries. The idea is still an idea that the U.S. uses for those who are still bearing problems within their current country. Mexico happens to be a country that has many poor communities and societies. Others face danger from gangs and narcos. Many of these people hold onto the idea that America means an escape and a chance to start over for the better of their families. Some will argue that immigrants are a major factor when it comes to crime rates in the U.S., but Bier claims “Yet there is no evidence that immigrants and asylum seekers are especially violent: in fact according to a study by the libertarian Cato Institute, native-born residents in Texas are more than twice as likely to be convicted of a crime as immigrants-legal or undocumented - living in the state.” This statement and study shows that people are making assumptions based off stereotypes. Most immigrants are in search of asylum from the pressure they are under in the current country. 

Even though America has always been the ideal country for people to restart their lives with their own values, Trump is breaking this tradition by withholding people from being able to start their lives over freshly. Trump has especially been cruel towards Mexican immigrants, and important people do not agree with his course of actions as Bier explains “Trump’s obsessive hostility toward immigrants led to more 2000 children being separated from their parents- an act that the United Nations Human Rights Council declared a human rights violation”(Bier). The fact that Trump is separating families who have done nothing wrong is why the wall should not be built. The wall is an excuse to support an unreasonable idea that Trump is trying to pursuit. Trump has been trying to keep restrictions on immigrants by installing measurements as Markham explains “As part of his ongoing effort to restrict immigration from poorer countries, he announced that anyone who had crossed the border without authorization would be automatically disqualified from asylum proceedings. (Previously, anyone could apply, as long as they showed a “credible fear” of returning home. Immigrants would now have to present themselves at an official port of entry, like San Ysidro, just across from Tijuana, or Hidalgo, near McAllen, Texas, and wait—a process that could keep them on the Mexican side of the border for several months.” The statement proves that even going through legal immigration can be a heartache. Many people do not have months to wait for their application to be accepted. Most of the time, people who are seeking asylum are from poorer parts of Mexico, and they or their children might not be able to survive another month seeking asylum. 

The immigrants go through hard times while waiting to be accepted for asylum as the author informs that the “city still housed an estimated 7,000 migrants, most of whom had traveled north in the Central American caravans that Trump had worked to cast as dangerous invaders. U. S. Customs and Border Protection was only taking in between 40 and 100 asylum seekers each day, leaving thousands waiting in the one main makeshift government shelter on the Mexican side of the border, where they slept outside, many without tents,”(Markham) which supports the the idea that Trump should not build the wall because many of these immigrants are with their family who do not have shelter. When a person thinks about the word immigrant, they often think of someone migrating to a different country. Immigrants are most importantly humans too. They should not be seen as objects and obstacles because of false pretenses used by someone. 

In conclusion, people deserve to live their life according to how they want to, and taking away that option when they have not done anything wrong is unlawful. Throughout life, most people just want the best for their families and future family. People can not control the life they are given, but they can control the outcome of their life. No person should have the power to control the outcome of someone’s life if that person comes in peace and has not done anything unlawful.