Border Wall Will Not Solve Our Immigration Problems

President Donald Trump’s visit to the US-Mexico border on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 to view prototypes for a proposed border wall may get him a photo opportunity, but will not move the nation forward to needed reform of the US immigration system.

In fact, studies issued by the Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) have found that net migration to the United States has fallen over the past decade. In one study, CMS found that, since 2007, more persons have overstayed their visas than have illegally crossed the US-Mexico border. Another study, released in February 2018, showed that the undocumented population has fallen steadily over the past several years.

“The wall is a campaign promise, but not a realistic solution to the challenge of irregular migration,” said Kevin Appleby, CMS’s senior director of international migration policy. “It is a proposal looking for a problem, as border crossings are down considerably and should continue to fall into the future.”

Appleby concluded: “Our policymakers should examine the facts and deny funding for a damaging and costly wall. Instead, they should focus on real solutions to our broken system, such as the passage of a clean DREAM Act.”

March 19, 2018