Y8 Geography Extended HW

‘Should a Border Wall Be Built Between Mexico and the USA?’

A little briefing on the Mexico – United States Border

The Mexico – United States Border stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the West the Gulf of
Mexico in the East. The Border states include the Mexican states of Baja California, Sonora,
Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. The U.S. states along the border are
California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The Mexico – United States border extends
3,145 kilometres. In addition, the maritime boundaries of 29 km into the Pacific Ocean and
19 km into the Gulf of Mexico. An image is shown below of the Mexico – United States
Border.

Why a Border should be built between Mexico and the US

A Border should be built between Mexico and the USA for many political, social and
economic reasons. For instance, there are incredibly high crime rates in Mexico, especially in
the capital, Mexico city. It has been proven that homicide rates are at 10-14 people per
100,000, therefore if the border wasn’t built the crime rates in the US may increase rapidly
due to illegal migration and human smuggling illegal drugs, such as heroine and
methamphetamine across the Mexico – US border, to eventually sell illegally in the US, and
in the last five years, 48,000 people have lost their lives in crimes relating drugs.

The second reason why the Border should be built because the Border defines its Sovereign
authority over its territory, to protect the ecomonic privileges of its population, and to
protect a particular way of lift from other people who are perceived to have different value
systems. The Border can also mark the legacy of wartime defences, and aid the halting of
smuggling, and seek to prevent terrorist attacks. This will help make the US a safer place and
gradually crime rates in the bordering states will fall.

The last and most substantial reason to build the Mexico – US border is because of the fact
that Americans may lose everything, the economy could crash, the Americans can go
bankrupt and be homeless, and the government may also run out of money to fund the
country. This is because if too many people are let through the border, all of the low paying
lines of work will be taken up by Mexicans, meaning Americans who are desperate for work
are also now expected to take up these lines of work. In this case, if the person is not able to
do so, they will go into poverty and be forced out of their homes. Some companies has
acknowledged this and taken advantage, as they are replacing American labour with, much
cheaper, migrant labour, therefore, this means unemployment rates and poverty will
skyrockert, which is very noticeable not ideal for the US economy.

Why a Border should not be built between Mexico and the US

There are numerous reasons why a wall should not be built. For instance, if a wall wasn’t
built culture in the US will be much more diverse, as Mexico offers a wide range of incredibly
popular food, such as the taco or burrito, which is already loved by many across the US.
Music is also a very popular way of making American culture diversity more significant, as
now you can have Son Cubano, or even Mariachi, instead of the classic Pop Music, Jazz or
Raps.

Unemployment and Poverty are also two reasons why the Border shouldn’t be built. Mexico
in the 2000S had an average crime rate of 2.2, but in just 10 years that number has risen
massively, as it has seen a 34.43% increase to 5.37 in 2020. If the wall isn’t built the
Mexicans who live in poverty may have the chance to move to the US, where there are many
occupations that are vacant. This is because most of the Mexican population are farmers,
who live in terrible conditions and live on poor quality land, meaning they are not able to
make any profit from their time farming. Due to this reason, 47% of Mexican people are
currently living under the poverty line, which in the 2010’s was $6.7 per day. It could also be
advantageous for the US to accept Mexicans into their country because the most Americans
don’t want these low paying jobs, but major companies still need them, so Mexican people
can take those jobs. Even if it does sound unfair and unjust for the Mexicans, those jobs still
pay higher than the same jobs in Mexico.

The last reason for not building a Border between Mexico and the US is because of the
massive amount of money required to build it. It was estimated at around $12 billion, by
Donald Trump, however, it was later found out it would be much higher than that, at double
the amount of money, at $25 billion. It is this costly due to the terrain it was to be built on,
as the builders will have to tackle mountainous terrain, hot deserts and even the Pacific
Ocean, (and Gulf of Mexico), therefore meaning that technology will have to be substantially
more advanced for the wall to the built. However, that is not the biggest issue, as both the
American President, Trump, and the Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, are strong
believers in the opposing side funding for the massive $25 billion project.

Conclusion
All in all, I do quite passionately believe the Mexico – USA boarder wall should not be built.
This is because too many Mexican people are living in extreme poverty, spending less than
$5 per day on food and in general daily supplies, whereas an average American male will
spend upwards of $200 per day on materialistic and luxurious items, which is proven by the
Bureau of Labour Statistics. In addition, even though, the USA is a very economically
developed the cost of building the Border is still $25 Billion, and it could leave USA in a
financial crisis, which is not ideal.

Timmy Zhang