Enyi's Blog

Along the border fence of the United States, left of the fence, and Mexico, on the right, just south of Bisbee in rural Cochise County, Arizona on January 25th. (Los Angeles Times) (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-trump-immigration-border-wall-mexico-20170325-story.html

Article By The Times Editorial Board

In the LA Times, The Times Editorial Board writes an article titled, “Pretty much the only thing Trump’s border wall will block is common sense”. This article addresses President Donald Trump’s verbal commitment to build a wall in order to blockade illegal immigrants coming from Mexico. The author is this article, The Times Editorial Board, points out the problems with Trump’s border wall. First, The Times Editorial Board argues that the wall will not solve the issue with immigration because most illegal immigrants have lived in the US for at least 5 years. Also, statistics show that the flow of illegal Mexican immigrants is already decreasing. Second, The Times Editorial Board argues that the cost of building the wall will come from the pockets of taxpayers and it will not be an economical benefit. Third, the Editorial Board the wall does not solve any problems. For example, Mexican immigrants can find ways around the wall through boats, planes, ladders or underground roads. Also, the building of the wall will create problems for US citizens trying to reenter the country. The Times Editorial Board criticizes Trump’s border wall by showing how it will be expensive, will not halt the flow of illegal immigrants, and is simply a ridiculous and unreasonable idea. 

In order to achieve their purpose, The Times Editorial Board uses logos. They use statistics from US documentations to show that Trump’s Wall is illogical because it doesn’t solve issues with illegal immigration. For example, The Times Editorial Board shows that the flow of illegal immigrants to the US is decreasing and “only 14% have been here for less than five years”. This shows that Trump’s wall isn’t necessary since illegal immigration is becoming less of a problem. In addition, The Times Editorial Board uses metaphors to illustrate how unreasonable Trump’s Wall will be. For example, they write, “Human migration routes are like rivers: If they hit an obstacle, the flow finds a way around it”. This metaphor strengthens the Times Editorial Board’s argument. It simply illustrates the concept of illegal immigration and the weak resolution of building a border wall. They show that the border wall cannot hold back the illegal immigrants because the immigrants could “ find new routes and methods — planes, boats and 31-foot ladders for a 30-foot wall”. The metaphor magnifies the flaws of Trump’s border wall by showing that it cannot prevent immigration. The Times Editorial Board uses logos and metaphors to show that Trump’s plan on building a border wall is unreasonable and ridiculous. 

The Times Editorial Board makes good points about Trump’s wall and I totally agree with their view, even before reading this article. The failure of Trump’s resolution to illegal immigration is quite evident; it is pretty obvious that a tall wall cannot block off immigration. IN addition, Trump’s wall and desire to block off Mexican immigration is very cruel and undemocratic. Making immigration more difficult can forever separate Mexican families. Also, Mexicans need help from the US. For example, I went on a Mexico house build with Linfield. On this trip, I saw an impoverished nation which could use great help from the United States. The US should love their neighbors and help to spread the welfare of the nation to Mexicans that are impoverished and in desperate need. Trump’s unreasonable and ridiculous idea of building a wall will cost $21.6 billion. This money could be better spent on spreading American wealth and democratic ideals to Mexico.