During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump had indicated that once he occupied the chair, he would build a US-Mexico border wall to ensure that illegal migrants and drug smugglers are not able to enter the United States. He had also said that Mexico would have to bear the cost because it is home to most of the drug traffickers and he wanted to end the menace once and for all. However, the Mexican government has once again stated that it would not finance the proposed border wall.
Latest developments
CNN reports that Donald Trump, in one of his recent tweets, had referred to Mexico as a country that has the highest crime rate in the world and, hence, it should pay to build the wall by financing it through any means.
However, Mexico’s foreign ministry has reiterated that there is no change on its earlier stand and it will not foot the bill for building the US-Mexico border wall or any other physical barrier at the border.
It has added that the decision is not a negotiating strategy but is linked to its principle of national sovereignty and dignity. On the subject of high rate of crimes in Mexico, the foreign ministry has clarified that crime is a common problem for both the countries and stems from the US demand for Mexican narcotics.
Who will fund the wall?
Once completed, the proposed US-Mexico border wall will be a massive affair running into nearly 2000 miles and the cost to build it would run into billions of dollars.
Specifications have been defined in the wall, but it is still on the drawing board. Contractors will have first to make the prototypes and work will start once these are approved. The main problem is about finance. Donald Trump had considered an option of mounting solar panels on the walls, but that has apparently been shelved.
He now wants Congress to allocate money for the project, and that has not happened, so he has threatened a government shutdown if Congress does not allocate necessary funds.
In order to force Mexico into submission, he brought up the North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA card. This is a trade deal between Mexico, the US, and Canada and is currently in the renegotiation process.
Trump indicated that the decision of Mexico on financing the wall could have an effect on the trade deal and influence the outcome, but Mexico appeared to be unmoved. He must be realizing that it is easy to make a promise but not that easy to implement because of unforeseen pitfalls on the way.
