The Wall, Ctd.

A reader writes:

The Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, says, "A fifty foot wall will create a market for fifty-five foot ladders." Coyotes who have been interviewed look forward to the challenge presented by a wall, stating that, when it becomes more difficult for individuals to cross by themselves, their business will not only increase, they will be able to raise their charges.
The solution is not walls; it’s the absence of jobs in the U.S. that invite them here, an ID card that cannot be counterfeited, plus a policy that permits those with jobs here to go back and forth.
Mexico is Arizona’s biggest trading partner. We don’t need walls with all of their unintended international consequences, we need cooperation with our neighbor to the South to help resolve our immigration problem while maintaining our strong business relationships.
Regardless of our intentions, a wall will be viewed internationally like our secret torture policy: one more piece of evidence that America has lost its humanity. I suppose the next question we will debate is whether we should shoot those we find entering over, under, or breeching the wall with explosives. Like the Berlin Wall, where there is a will, there is a way, that is, until the shooting starts.

I’m not impressed with these arguments. If Mexico wants to cooperate with the U.S., why does it not share the costs of constructing a wall? And if market forces attract immigrants, great. But let them immigrate legally, and let’s expand legal immigration to accommodate them. And, yes, I guess at some level, armed force might be necessary. But it’s already used; and a wall might actually decrease its necessity and frequency. As for the symbolic case, it’s a good one. But a completely anarchic border is also a symbol – of an impotent federal government. I’m open to arguments about the practicality of building such a wall, and to possible unintended consequences. But so far, I can’t say I’m impressed by the case against. Expense? Of course. So let’s abolish agricultural subsidies, import more food-stuffs – and ethanol! – from Latin and South America, and use the money we save to help build the wall. Deal?