About the Border Wall

By Daniel Nardini

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - CommentaryWith the U.S. Donald Trump presidency on the way out, the gigantic border wall he had intended to create will most likely now be a dead issue. For the most part, the border wall that had been created mostly strengthened existing border barriers that had been in decay. There are still major lawsuits among private citizens and with Native Americans living along the border areas who were fighting to keep their lands from being taken away for the border wall. Under a U.S. Joe Biden presidency their lands will most likely not be touched now. If Trump had had a second term, it was possible that the border wall might have become a reality. Strangely enough, the one thing that slowed down the construction of the border wall was the corona virus epidemic.

With emergency funds having been diverted for fighting the epidemic, and the U.S. Congress also engaged in the fight against the epidemic, the border wall issue took a backseat. Hence, for those against the border wall, the corona virus epidemic might have been a blessing in respect to stopping something that was becoming an issue with many Americans who saw it as a symbol of executive overreach. The Native American tribes, such as the O’odham Tohono, have led a long and valiant fight against the construction of the border wall over their lands. Now with a Biden administration coming in, Biden has promised to halt and even reverse all new construction of the border wall.

What will most likely happen is that President-elect Biden will opt for far less intrusive measures of securing the U.S.-Mexico border such as surveillance, hiring more Border Patrol, and working more in cooperation with local officials in figuring out what strategy will work in preventing illegal border crossings. Trump has been trying to speed up the construction of the border wall so he can leave a fairly big mess for his successor. It is a sad commentary about how this cycle of the presidential campaign has gone. The border wall has been and shall remain a subject of controversy long after Biden terminates any and all funding for it. But then, I have to ask myself will the whole issue be again raised in another future Republican administration?

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