Thread: Bloomberg: Sorry, Donald, Mexico Won't Pay for That $3.58B Wall

Thursday, 13 Aug 2015 07:10 AM
By: Michael C. Bender

Donald Trump brims with confidence whenever he talks about sealing the southern border of the United States, and getting Mexico to pay for the wall.

"So easy," the Republican presidential front-runner told Fox News on Tuesday, when Sean Hannity asked Trump how he's make the nation's neighbor cough up the cash.

"We give them tens of billions of dollars a year," Trump said, after mocking naysayers. "They are ripping us left and right. Their leaders are so much smarter than our leaders, Sean. They are ripping us left and right. The wall is peanuts."

A quick fact check shows the U.S. doesn't give Mexico tens of billions a year, and the cost of the wall is somewhat north of peanuts.

U.S. foreign aid to Mexico has averaged $233 million per year during the past five years, according to government records. Much of that goes to support clean energy, law enforcement and, yes, border security.

Meanwhile, the cost of completing a wall along the 2,000-mile border would be in the billions. The U.S. spent $2.4 billion for 670 miles of fencing between 2006 and 2009, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

On Fox, Trump estimated that completing a wall along the southern border would require enclosing about 1,000 miles along the border. Using the previous costs as a benchmark, and without adjusting for inflation, that would put the total price tag for completion at $3.58 billion.

And that's just the wall. A Bloomberg Government analysis in 2013 estimated what it would cost to completely seal the border: $28 billion per year.

Trump also told Hannity that he'd threaten Mexico with a tariff if it didn't build a wall. His spokeswoman didn't respond to an email requesting additional detail.

The problem with that scenario is that one country's tariff usually begets another. The prospect of a trade war is unlikely to be welcome news for businesses on the northern side of the border: Mexico is the United States' second largest export market, and third largest trading partner, with $507 billion in total trade in 2013.

"They need us so badly," Trump told Hannity. "And I'll be friends with Mexico. I'm going to have a great relationship with Mexico. We have a bad relationship with Mexico, and they're an abuser. China's an abuser.

"By the way, every country's an abuser because we have very stupid people representing us."

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/dona.../13/id/669895/

I say the federal government should charge Michael Bloomberg with violating our federal laws that make encouraging, aiding, and abetting illegal aliens a felony and tell him he can either serve some years in prison or pay for the wall himself!

W

Any costs to build a wall pale in comparison to the billions and billions already spent,and will be spent in the future, on illegal aliens and their dependents.

Trump is right on this and the writer for Bloomberg is dead wrong. Immigrant Remittances alone to Mexico are over $23 billion a year and we have a $53 billion or more annual trade deficit with Mexico on top of that. That's before we even get to the $240 billion a year illegal drug trade over the Southern Border, most of money of which flows back into Mexico. So Trump is right and Bloomberg news is a bunch of idiots for even publishing such an erroneous BS article as what Michael Bender chose to write.

Sorry Bloomburg and Mike Bender, it is you who are wrong, as could be expected from open borders advocates.

Estimates show that the over $100 billion was spent on services for illegal aliens in the United States in 2010. In Arizona alone, over $2.7 billion was spent from 2009-2010 on free services for illegal aliens on healthcare, education, and imprisonment costs alone! If we kept illegal aliens out of our country that amount of money would be available to pay for a super, grand border fence

As of July 20, 2011, only approximately 685 miles of the nearly 2,000 mile long border between the United States and Mexico is "fenced." The vast majority of this existing "fence" however, consists of a few strands of barbed-wire, vehicle barriers, that people can easily walk around and inadequate materials that have minimal effectiveness in stopping illegal crossings. The approximately 1,315 remaining miles of the border currently have no fencing at all. Estimates of the cost to complete the fencing of the US border has been called “extremely high” at an expense of $4.1 billion.

Since 2001 almost $300 billion, has been wired to Latin America. That is money sucked out of the US economy and sent to foreign countries. It is certain that the vast majority of those dollars is being sent by illegal aliens. The bottom line is that if we stop illegal immigration we will save money far in excess of the cost of building and maintaining a border fence.

Today, estimates show that only approximately 10-15% of the border is under operational control and we currently have no way of tracking how many illegal aliens are entering the United States every day!

And yes Mexico could be made to cough up $4 billion, or whatever, to pay for a border fence. The Mexican economy is a mess, they need the United States trade more than we need the defective, constantly breaking junk they send to us, things we could make much better here and give employment to US citizens.

Originally Posted by csarbww

Sorry Bloomburg and Mike Bender, it is you who are wrong, as could be expected from open borders advocates.

Estimates show that the over $100 billion was spent on services for illegal aliens in the United States in 2010. In Arizona alone, over $2.7 billion was spent from 2009-2010 on free services for illegal aliens on healthcare, education, and imprisonment costs alone! If we kept illegal aliens out of our country that amount of money would be available to pay for a super, grand border fence

As of July 20, 2011, only approximately 685 miles of the nearly 2,000 mile long border between the United States and Mexico is "fenced." The vast majority of this existing "fence" however, consists of a few strands of barbed-wire, vehicle barriers, that people can easily walk around and inadequate materials that have minimal effectiveness in stopping illegal crossings. The approximately 1,315 remaining miles of the border currently have no fencing at all. Estimates of the cost to complete the fencing of the US border has been called “extremely high” at an expense of $4.1 billion.

Since 2001 almost $300 billion, has been wired to Latin America. That is money sucked out of the US economy and sent to foreign countries. It is certain that the vast majority of those dollars is being sent by illegal aliens. The bottom line is that if we stop illegal immigration we will save money far in excess of the cost of building and maintaining a border fence.

Today, estimates show that only approximately 10-15% of the border is under operational control and we currently have no way of tracking how many illegal aliens are entering the United States every day!

And yes Mexico could be made to cough up $4 billion, or whatever, to pay for a border fence. The Mexican economy is a mess, they need the United States trade more than we need the defective, constantly breaking junk they send to us. Things we could make much better here and give employment to US citizens.

Absolutely 100% correct. Thank you for such a great post, csarbww.

Originally Posted by Jean

A Bloomberg Government analysis in 2013 estimated what it would cost to completely seal the border: $28 billion per year.

Somebody should tell The Donald that there's no need to seal the border. Most illegals sneak into our country, to get a better job or more money for the same job. Enacting Universal E-Verify would remove the jobs magnet. Problem solved, for pennies on the enforcement dollar.

Then we could send our border agents and other forces to cut off smugglers and potential terrorists.
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American jobs for American workers

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