For even Trump’s ardent supporters, a bit of thought should be given to one narrative that he has pushed as supporting evidence that a border wall is necessary: that Mexico is actively siphoning murderers across the border to rid the nation of its worst citizens.
It’s a difficult point to prove, but one that makes sense when examined only at the shallowest levels. Of course any nation would have incentive to export perpetual offenders who clog the prison systems and display recidivist tendencies. Murderers would be tops on a list of get-em-the-hell-outta-heres.
The sentiment is not without historical precedent, either. In April of 1980, when Fidel Castro declared that Cubans would be free to immigrate to America and should make their way to the Mariel Port near Havana if they wished to do so, many did not realize that many of the 125,000 Cubans estimated to have made their way to Miami had been released from prisons and mental wards. Crime is a burden on any nation, and any honest leader would say that, if another nation was willing to accept their dregs, they would pass them along with little thought.
But in the case of Mexico, there’s a problem with the murderers-as-an-export narrative. And it’s a point that President Trump recently cited, not for the first time. Yesterday, at 4 A.M., the president Tweeted accurately that the Mexican murder rate is on a rapid incline compared with last year.
‘One of the reasons we need Great Border Security is that Mexico’s murder rate in 2017 increased by 27% to 31,174 people killed, a record! The Democrats want Open Borders. I want Maximum Border Security and respect for ICE and our great Law Enforcement Professionals! @FoxNews’
Border walls are par for the course in most nations where outsiders have proven eager to get in. This is not an argument against the border wall. But, critics of this particular justification for the wall bring up a good point.
If crime in Mexico is on a rapid ascent, wouldn’t it suggest that Mexico’s worst still reside in Mexico?!
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