The 'Great Wall of Trump' would be as ineffective as the Great Wall of China, experts say


As he has for months now, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said in Dallas on Monday that a President Trump would build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, because "we are a dumping ground for the rest of the world" (and undocumented immigrants are apparently trash). But Trump's "Great Wall of Trump," paid for by Mexico and poor Mexican immigrants trying to send money home to their families, faces plenty of obstacles. High among them: It probably wouldn't work very well.
To highlight the problem, USA Today's Heidi M. Przybyla looked at the Great Wall of China, in many ways a much more ambitious undertaking than the proposed U.S.-Mexico border fence. "Yet, just as the Ming Dynasty's 13,000-mile wall failed to keep out the Manchurians, Trump's barricade would likely be an ineffective way of addressing the nation's immigration challenges," Przybyla said, citing "border experts." She continued:
The idea of walling off a nation, either to stop immigration flows or foreign invaders, has broad historical appeal — from Roman Emperor Hadrian's stone wall to Israel's West Bank wall and Northern Ireland's divide between its Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. However, walls are often more symbolic barriers than practical ones. The Germans just marched around the French Maginot Line to invade Belgium, and the Manchurians repeatedly broke through the Great Wall of China. [USA Today]
The Berlin Wall was pretty effective, with its ample guards and shoot-to-kill orders keeping the emigration success rate at just 5 percent, Przybyla notes, but in order to match that, the U.S. would need about 60,000 border guards (with shoot-to-kill orders). It's something to think about the next time Trump brings up his wall, and you can read more at USA Today.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
UK-India trade deal: how the social security arrangements will work
The Explainer A National Insurance exemption in the UK-India trade deal is causing concern but should British workers worry?
-
Man arrested after 'suspicious' fires at properties linked to Keir Starmer
Speed Read Prime minister thanks emergency services after fire at his former family home in north London
-
Elon Musk's SpaceX has created a new city in Texas
under the radar Starbase is home to SpaceX's rocket launch site
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'