The Wall is the right thing to do

I will let my opponent go first.

I would like to start off by stating that I am NOT against border security, I think it is rather important that only mentally stable people who will obey the law be let into the country. However I am rather uncertain about this notion that the border wall is the best solution to the immigration problem. . All of that being said I am going to now present my argument for why a border wall across Mexico isn't the best solution to the illegal immigration problem.
- The amount of illegal immigrants stemming from over stayed visas has increased from 41 percent in 2008 to now 44 percent in 2018. While the rate of illegal immigrants on foot has dropped considerably ever since trump enacted stronger border patrol laws. SOURCES, Https://www. Nbcnews. Com. . .
https://www. Factcheck. Org. . .
- Furthermore once the wall is build who is to say that many will simply dig tunnels or come in through boat. One could make the argument that boats and tunnels are too hard to make and most will come in on foot. However as Ive already previously stated, The amount of illegal immigrants coming in on foot has dropped considerably while the amount from over stayed visas is rising so it would be a better long term investment to spend that 21 billion dollars and invest it into enforcing expired visas. SOURCES, Https://www. Nytimes. Com. . .
- Another one of my problems with building a wall is that the federal government would take away PRIVATE land to build said wall as seen in this article where Texas landowners are trying desperately to keep their land. SOURCE, Https://www. Washingtonpost. Com. . .
- My last major issue with the wall is the yearly upkeep required for the wall. While I could not find any statistics for how much the upkeep will cost, I could imagine it would be somewhere in the millions as you would need building materials, Vehicles for transport, And a large staff required for the nearly 2, 000 mile long wall assuming it gets built.
All of that said while I will agree that a border wall would prevent some illegal immigrants from entering the country, Enforcing the people with expired visas and investing in more border patrol agents would be a better solution to the issue at hand. These 2 methods would also be significantly cheaper than building a 21 billion wall with millions more being spent on the upkeep.

Opponent Forfeit.