April 06--Not only is Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump sticking to his cockamamie proposal to build a wall along the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border, he's now outlined how he would compel the Mexican government to pay for it. In the process, he displays significant ignorance about human migration, trade agreements and the intricate economic ties between the U.S. and Mexico, not to mention fundamental diplomacy. For instance: You don't use extortion on your friends.
In a two-page memo to the Washington Post, Trump laid out his strategy for getting Mexico to pay for his 40-foot-high wall, which some estimates say could cost as much as $25 billion, plus maintenance. (Trump priced the construction at $8 billion). In a nutshell, if Mexico doesn't pony up the money, he would cripple its economy by cutting off cash remittances from undocumented Mexicans working in the U.S. (They were responsible for a large share of the nearly $24 billion all workers sent to their families in Mexico last year.) He would also impose tariffs on goods imported from Mexico and cancel some visas and raise fees on others. Beyond the immorality of threatening to devastate the Mexican economy if he doesn't get his way, Trump's strategy could open the U.S. to challenges under international trade agreements and undermine the U.S. economy, particularly in border cities, by launching a trade war with the nation's third-largest trading partner.
Cutting off remittances, to be honest, would probably be about as difficult as stopping the international movement of people, guns or drugs. But if it did work, it might backfire: If Mexico's economy crumbles, more Mexican workers would probably seek jobs in the U.S., exacerbating the problem Trump insists he's trying to fix.
Trump's position, like most of his campaign, is based on chest-thumping, not reason, and offers further evidence that he's not fit to be president.
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