(Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images; Pacific Standard)
“We either have a border, or we don’t.” —Donald Trump, just now.
A few quick points on Trump’s proposed border, perMatt Bors:
- It would cost roughly $30 billion for a 2,000 mile wall. (And, no, Mexico will not pay for this wall.)
- A wall would damage hundreds of miles of parkland and wildlife refuge.
- It would require three times the amount of concrete needed for the Hoover Dam. “That quantity of concrete could pave a one-lane road from New York to Los Angeles, going the long way around the Earth, which would probably be just as useful,” Bors writes.
- Even when factoring in the Secure Fence Act of 2006 — essentially Congress’ mandate for wall construction — building Trump’s wall would require the seizure of land from thousands of Americans through eminent domain.
