192
votes
Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
tl;dr: The wall is only an idea with lots of blanks. People on different sides of the divide fill in the blanks differently, so they end up with different conclusions.
The Wall is just an abstract ...
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99
votes
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Are there any details as to where the $5,710,357,000 to fund part of Trump's wall would come from?
You can think of the treasury of a government as a big pot of money. There are various streams of inputs (taxes, fees, fines, tariffs, new debt...) and lots and lots of streams of outputs (subsidies, ...
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88
votes
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What are the primary objections Democrats have to a border wall?
It's not clear to me that Democrats are opposed to border-wall construction (your one source suggests they are fine with border walls/fences where necessary), so much as they opposed to some of the ...
- 3,007
68
votes
Accepted
What's currently blocking the construction of the wall between Mexico and the US?
The tl;dr is that a federal injunction is preventing the building of the wall, because it's likely that the Executive branch exceeded its Constitutional authority in trying to use the NEA (National ...
- 1,330
67
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
The question is complex and poses potentially a multitude of possible subquestions because there are an infinite number of possible deals that Democrats could try to make.
But, in the case of ...
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66
votes
Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
From your comment under the question:
You don't shut down the government over a disagreement about the cost benefit analysis of something that costs 5 billion dollars. There is obviously some ...
JJJ♦
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65
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Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
The current POTUS is not exactly known for being a man of his word. That means Democrats cannot give Trump the Wall in exchange for a promise. They need a finalized bill, which takes a lot of time, ...
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59
votes
Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
It's a polarising issue because it symbolises hostility towards foreigners, which is intrinsically an emotive subject.
If you actually want to reduce illegal immigration in the most cost-effective ...
- 1,305
52
votes
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How will shutting the government down enable Trump to build his Mexico border wall?
Forcing a government shutdown doesn't get Trump any budget for anything. It's the threat of a government shutdown with which he hopes to force Congress to cooperate.
A government shutdown happens ...
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47
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What kind of approval does Donald Trump need to build his wall?
The main problem is getting the money from congress.
The US executive has a budget plan which is made by Congress. This budget plan says how much money the President is allowed to spend for what ...
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45
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Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
As someone who lives in a border state, I'd like to add that the idea of a complete border wall costing only 5 billion is, frankly, ludicrous. The wall would have to pass over very rugged terrain, ...
- 559
37
votes
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What do Democrats mean when they call a wall or barrier "immoral"?
Here are some examples of statements by Democratic politicians and my best guess at interpretation:
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called President Trump's planned border wall 'immoral'
“A wall,...
- 1,530
36
votes
Why does there not seem to be more support for state-specific border walls in the US?
It is essentially not allowed.
States may not usurp the federal power over immigration. State attempts to regulate concurrently in a field already occupied by a federal statute have been struck ...
- 3,112
35
votes
Why don't the Democrats make a deal to give Trump his border wall in exchange for campaign finance reform?
What are the major political barriers to a deal like this happening?
All of the other answers have considered the question from The Democratic Party’s perspective. There is of course another major ...
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31
votes
Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
The problem with this wall proposal is that we already have a wall. It was built in the 1990s under President Clinton, and expanded under every President since. And the existing wall looks every bit ...
- 1,131
30
votes
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Why does there not seem to be more support for state-specific border walls in the US?
In addition to the issue David S identifies:
Cost. Texas has a state budget that runs about $108B/year. Cost estimates for a border wall vary a lot, but the most recent request to Congress from the ...
- 2,542
24
votes
What are the primary objections Democrats have to a border wall?
As a Democrat, here are some of my objections:
Mexico is not paying for it.
He promised they would; now he is demanding funds from Congress (tax-dollars).
It is Impractical
At estimates around $25 ...
- 2,552
24
votes
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Has Trump's administration ever explained why they didn't "build the wall" before the midterms?
For funding bills, it takes 60 votes to pass in the Senate. Before the mid-terms, Republicans only had 51 votes (with some defectors, like Flake and Corker). They have 53 votes now but still need 7 ...
- 402
23
votes
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Long term, does Trump's wall cost more than it saves per year?
Best-case scenario? Fox News thinks the Wall will save lives by making it more difficult for cartels to bring drugs into the USA.
Middle-of-the-road scenario? Stanford put an actual monetary figure ...
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22
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Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
Here's a sampling of the arguments I've heard from people opposed to the wall. Often from people who live near the border:
Walls and fences are of little value if they are not guarded. Many areas ...
- 1,110
20
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Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
The border wall is polarizing because Donald Trump wants it, and Donald Trump is a polarizing figure.
This is a cynical answer, but I think it’s actually more accurate than the other answers, which ...
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20
votes
What's currently blocking the construction of the wall between Mexico and the US?
It's a very large civil engineering project. Those are nearly always late. It's supposed to be at least six times longer than the Berlin Wall, and the cost projections are in the $20bn range.
There ...
- 22k
19
votes
How will shutting the government down enable Trump to build his Mexico border wall?
Does he not have the power, as President, to overrule the government?
No.
Congress controls the budget. In order to spend money, Donald Trump (or any president) needs Congress to appropriate it. ...
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19
votes
What is Donald Trump's plan surrounding the US-Mexico border wall?
Has Donald Trump laid out a plan for this wall or ever talked about it with more detail to clarify what his ultimate plan and goal may be to build a wall?
Trump is generally light on details. ...
- 89.3k
19
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Why is a border wall such a polarising issue in American politics?
I'm not trying to go full PoMo here, but meaning is often socially constructed.
Anything can be politically polarizing if a critical mass of people perceive it to be that way. We could be talking ...
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17
votes
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Is Trump's plan to make a wall realistic?
Donald Trump has posted this document on his website, which outlines how exactly the wall will be financed.
Background
According to that document, Mexicans nationals (many working illegally) in ...
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17
votes
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Did Trump ever explain why he wants to make Mexico pay for the wall?
The obvious reason would be that it increases the emotional appeal of the wall to those instinctively in favour of it.
It's a serious mistake to expect carefully planned and costed policy from ...
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16
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Mexico indirectly paying for the wall
No. The campaign promise that Mexico would "pay for the wall" was in a very direct sense, with the idea that his strong background in deal-making would be brought to bear in showing Mexico the benefit ...
- 20.8k
14
votes
Has Trump's administration ever explained why they didn't "build the wall" before the midterms?
Mostly because the Republicans hammered out a pretty hefty budget deal in early 2018
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced a deal on budget ...
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