Building a wall along a border isn't a new idea. In some cases, its construction may have not only prevented the passage of people from one place to another, but also provided a psuedo-economic boost to activity. It seems unlikely, however, that laborers employed in wall construction in antiquity received payment. They were more likely to be slaves or soldiers.
The most famous of walls is, of course, the Great Wall of China. Begun in the 7th century BC and lengthened and maintained since, the Chinese version of immigrant control and defense ultimately extended to 3889 miles of actual wall itself and remains one of the architectural wonders of the world. Its efficiency in preserving the cultural integrity of its makers is open to question.
The Great Wall of China
Roman emperor Hadrian had problems with Scots and Picts raiding the province of Britannia in the second century AD. In 122 the Roman army began building a wall that stretched 73 miles across northern Britain and came to define the border for hundreds of years. Hadrian's successor, Antonine Pius built another, less impressive fortification, further north which was used by the Romans at different times in following years. In the early fifth century the troublesome province was abandoned as the empire went into decline. Parts of the wall were used as building materials.
Hadrian's Wall
In 1961 the East German's began building the "
Antifascistischer Schutzwall" or "antifascist bulwark", to separate the Allied area of West Berlin from the rest of Communist East Germany. A heavily fortified wall of concrete and barbed wire guarded by trigger-happy soldiers, the wall became a symbol of the ideological conflict between the socialist east and capitalist west. In 1989 Hungary pulled the plug on its 150 mile electrified fence between it and Austria. This allowed thousands of East German tourists to escape to Austria and then travel on to West Germany. The Berlin Wall could no longer prevent Commie Germans from making their way to the West. Later that year the East Germans quit regulating the Berlin border crossings and in November destruction of the wall began.
The Berlin Wall begins to come down.
There are actual plans and preparations being made for the construction of a physical barrier between the US and Mexico. Evidently US authority figures are listening to the complaints of citizens who are objecting to the presence in the US of undocumented aliens from countries south of the US. In that the Mexican border is 1,951 miles long, much of it in remote, sparsely populated desert, some of it running through the middle of big, divided cities, erecting an effective barrier looks to be a huge project.
San Diego, CA on the left, Tijuana, Baja California on the right. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Hyde)
Mock-ups of possible wall configurations have been constructed in an attempt to determine the most cost-effective form to adopt for the new barrier. "Estimates range from as low as $8 billion to as much as $67 billion or more, depending on whom you ask and the number of miles of wall that get built. Based on Trump’s 2017 budget request for $2.6 billion to plan, design and build 75 miles of wall, Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s office estimated the per-mile cost would be about $37 million, or nearly $67 billion for the entire 2,000-mile border. Congressional Republicans have said they expect a wall to cost from $12 billion to $15 billion, based on the cost to rebuild existing border fencing covering a third of that distance. These projections, however, don’t include the cost of land acquisition. Two-thirds of the land is private or state-owned, much of it in Texas. The Trump administration could seek to use eminent domain to seize land needed for a border barrier, as well as support roads and other infrastructure, though it would likely face costly legal challenges that could delay construction for years."(Fortune.com)
Proposed wall configurations that have been erected near San Diego.
Little consideration seems to have been given to the fact that the southern reaches of the US also includes over 3051 miles of coastline. In the past these areas have been the focus of the smuggling of humans, drugs, liquor and other banned items, as they are even today. A wall across the southern US land border will complicate illegal immigration (as it will international retail business and tourism) making it likely that the most determined invaders will take to the sea, as no doubt many do now. Thousands of disgruntled Cubans have made their way across the Gulf of Mexico to a new life in Florida.
Will there be a movement to erect barriers along the Florida, California and Texas coasts to keep non-citizens away? It might be possible to construct a "fortress America" on the Florida beaches but would property owners accept this? Perhaps the US Coast Guard, already tasked with intercepting smugglers, is ready for an expanded role protecting the American coastline from an increase in illegal immigrants in addition to narcotics smugglers.
Beach at South Padre Island, Texas, courtesy of TripAdvisor
An attractive variation of the walls considered for stemming the tide of illegal entry to the US could only increase the majesty of the Texas oceanfront.
