Donald Trump has made many “If you vote for me, as President, I will…” claims. One of these claims he plans to follow through on is his very controversial idea of building a wall on the Mexican border. He signed an executive order on January 25, 2017 to begin thinking about construction.

The executive order itself states, “Aliens who illegally enter the United States without inspection or admission present a significant threat to national security and public safety.”

Senate leader Mitch McConnell had estimated the wall to cost between 12 and 15 billion dollars. The border between Mexico and the United States is about 2,000 miles long. Getting the wall built is just the beginning. After construction, the United States would still have to pay roughly $750 million a year to maintain the wall.

The wall is going to be a “reinforcer” of some sort along the border between Mexico and the United States to keep people from illegally crossing the border. Many people argue this and say it’s wrong to keep people out. However, it’s not keeping them out entirely. It’s just so they can’t illegally enter.

In the actual order itself, Trump says that the purpose of building this wall is to “ensure that the nation’s immigration laws are faithfully executed.” Many people believe this is a waste of money, while others think securing the border is a great idea.
Although Trump is making moves towards building the wall, there are still many decisions to be made and things to be sorted through before they start construction.