Mending Wall

Sonia Nazario is a Pulitzer-winning LA Times staff writer. From her vantage point, that of an expert on the motives of Latin American illegal immigrants, Nazario is convinced that legislative “solutions,” including green card rules and wall heights, “won’t make a difference” (Los Angeles Times, 4.2.06). Nazario says that only improved conditions in Mexico and Central America will stem the flow of illegal immigrants.

Really?

People often attack any fence along the southern U.S. border as a proposed “Berlin Wall,” as if it’s the same thing to keep people from coming in as it is to keep them from going out. But here’s the thing. The Berlin Wall worked. For 28 years, it hemmed in the East German people and kept the Soviet empire alive. Because it worked, the Wall lowered the temperature of the Cold War. Pre-wall, Communism was hemorrhaging people and talent through Berlin; post-wall, a stabilized Central Europe avoided world war.

To restrict illegal immigration, the U.S. can’t just build a fence. It also needs some kind of biometric identity card and tough treatment of employers who hire undocumented workers. And it should do as Nazario suggests; put more into helping Mexico and Central America develop their economies. But success requires the fence as well as trade assistance.

Another place a wall is making a difference is Israel. Again, it’s a wall to keep people out. We hope for a peace agreement involving Palestine, and we hope for Israeli cooperation in developing the Palestinian economy. But the Israelis, helped by their fence, are able to bring about peace themselves, at least in the short term. They no longer have to have Palestinian cooperation.