Construction is beginning on President Trump's 30-foot tall border wall in Arizona. Its impact may be monumental for Arizona residents. Trump famously announced his plans of building a border wall during his election campaign in 2016 in an effort to prevent unlawful immigration from Mexico into the United States. He has been pursuing this plan from the early days of his presidency. The feedback and opinions coming from locals is mixed, with many farmers and landowners supporting the wall. On the other hand, Native American tribes and conservationists oppose the construction. The construction of Trump's wall in Arizona creates two social issues within the community, since the affected land has both agricultural and historical meaning. Agricultural concerns are significant because the wall is to be built at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which is recognized by the United Nations as an international biosphere reserve. The wall also creates issues for the animals that live there as well as plant life that is considered highly valuable for the land and its history. Agriculturalists have also raised concerns in how government officials are transporting cactus plants in the area. Furthermore, the wall is being constructed near indigenous lands, where thousands of native tribe members cross the Mexican-Arizona border using specific tribal identification cards. Many native traditions take place in the affected area, and the maintenance of these traditions is now potentially at issue since the wall intervenes with these activities. Furthermore, tribes and family members live on both on the Mexico and United States sides, raising concerns on how tribal members will be able to visit their loved ones. President Trump will likely be pushing to have the wall completed by the 2020 Presidential elections. The Arizona wall shall span 450 miles and costs an estimated $10.3 million per mile. This figure does not include labor or security costs associated with the construction. The Trump administration utilized the Department of Defense’s funds through an emergency declaration made on February 15th, 2019. The concrete-filled, steel-based bollard wall will feature security lights. The Trump administration claims that the wall will assist in the apprehensions of individuals seeking unlawful entry and the reduction of smuggling of illegal narcotics. So far this year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized 61,900 pounds of illegal narcotics and intervened in 63,490 illegal human-trafficking operations.
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Michael G. Ibrahim, Esq.
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DePaul University College of Law
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Certificate in Public Interest Law
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Editor, Journal for Social Justice — DePaul University
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