By Stephanie Shriver-Byrne, Staff Writer
People vote for presidents for many reasons, including but not limited to, political party identification, ideology, policy positions of the candidates, and individual characteristics of the candidate.[1] Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016. The first point of President-elect Trump’s 10-point plan to put America first is to build an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border on day one — and make Mexico pay for it.[2] The U.S. has spent billions of dollars in the last few years on fencing off one-third of the border.[3]
Trump has said that building the wall would be “easy . . . [and that] [i]t’s not even a difficult project if you know what you are doing.”[4] He proposes to pay for the wall by threatening to create a rule in the Patriot Act, Section 326 — which “compel[s] financial institutions to demand identity documents before opening accounts or conducting financial transactions” — to have money transfer companies included under applicable financial institutions. It would also “redefine ‘account’ to include wire transfers.” In addition, when an alien wires money outside the U.S., they would have to provide documentation indicating that they are legally present in the U.S.[5]
Trump lays out that two days after first threatening to add the rule, his administration will tell Mexico that it will not go into effect if Mexico contributes $5-10 billion dollars toward the wall.[6] If the threat of preventing money from being wired from the U.S. to Mexico is not enough, Trump asserts that cancelling visas, increasing visa fees, and implementing tariffs on imports from Mexico will allow for his administration to force Mexico to pay.[7]
On Sept. 1, former Mexican President Vicente Fox said that the country will not pay for the wall.[8] In response to Fox’s statements, during a Republican debate, Trump said that the wall just got “ten feet higher.”[9] On Nov. 9, Mexico reiterated that it would not pay for a border wall but is willing to cooperate with Trump for the benefit of both countries.[10]
Republicans in the House of Representatives are hoping to discuss a less costly option with Trump, since Mexico has maintained that it is unwilling to pay for a border wall.[11] Although, Rudolph Giuliani — former New York City Mayor and Trump supporter — stated that Trump could, by executive order, reprogram money already approved by Congress within the immigration service. The Trump administration could then begin building sections of the border that have already been approved for a wall.[12]
While there are several issues that Trump campaigned on, as well as promises that he has made, the wall is arguably one that he discussed most frequently and earliest in his campaign.[13] It is reasonable to assume that the wall dividing the Mexico-U.S. border is one of the first campaign promises that Trump supporters expect to be fulfilled. Once Trump assumes office on Jan. 20, 2017, it will be a question of whether he follows his day-by-day plan on building a wall across the border, as outlined on his website.[14]
Sources
[1] http://www.stritch.edu/Magazine/Summer-2016/What-factors-do-voters-consider-when-they-vote-for-president-/
[2] https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration/
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/09/what-it-will-take-for-president-trump-to-deport-millions-and-build-the-wall/
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/09/what-it-will-take-for-president-trump-to-deport-millions-and-build-the-wall/
[5] https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/Pay_for_the_Wall.pdf
[6] https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/Pay_for_the_Wall.pdf
[7] https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/Pay_for_the_Wall.pdf
[8] http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/294069-former-mexican-president-we-are-not-going-to-pay-for-that
[9] http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/02/26/gop-debate-donald-trump-former-mexican-president-fox-build-wall-03.cnn
[10] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-peso-idUSKBN1332MG
[11] http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-big-beautiful-wall-fence-article-1.2867648
[12] http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/11/10/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-mexico-wall-newday.cnn
[13] http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/donald-trump-2016-announcement-10-best-lines-119066
