The Trump Wall, better known to Mexicans as the Wall of Hate is about demonizing Mexicans and it has nothing to do with protecting American from terrorists or drugs. It is symbol of hating Mexicans. Biden knows this as other Democrats, but Biden is playing a careful game of distinguishing himself from Trump by placating his base about immigrants taking American jobs. The Democrats have always feared job displacements caused by immigrants and thus are unfriendly towards immigrants.
Yesterday Joe Biden said that “there will not be another foot of wall constructed,” if he is elected in November. Biden went on to add that he is “going to make sure that we have border protection”.
Good sound bites. But what do they mean?
First, let us see what else Biden said in the interview. He said that he will not take down any of the wall Trump has built. Barack Obama built over 600 miles of fencing along the US-México border. Biden added that he was “going to make sure” that there is border protection focusing at the ports of entry.
Clearly, Biden understands that the drugs and human trafficking goes on via the ports of entry. This has been documented. However, the wall or fence is a symbol. It is a symbol of the false sense of border security designed to placate the xenophobes in the country.
The Democrats have never been friendly towards legal immigration. The reason is simple, labor. American labor is afraid of competing against immigrant labor, from low-skilled labor-intensive work to high-tech jobs.
Therein lies the crux of the need to keep a façade of border security going.
The border wall is a symbol of demonizing Mexicans to protect American sensibilities. Biden and the Democrats understand this and thus Biden is playing both sides of the wall issue by promising not to add any more to the wall but refusing to tear it down.
Sadly, I am not surprised.
