Trump ‘wasn’t kidding’; US begins designing Mexican border Wall

“The wall is getting designed right now. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, oh, Trump was only kidding with the wall.’ I wasn’t kidding. I don’t kid. I don’t kid,” Trump told conference of County Sheriffs at the White House. The wall, a major poll promise, is essential to stop the flow of illegal immigrants and drug pouring into the country from across the border, he said.

“I watch this, and they say I was kidding. Nah, I don’t kid. I don’t kid about things like that, I can tell you. No, we will have a wall. It will be a great wall and it will do a lot of -- it’ll be a big help,” he said. “Just ask Israel about walls. Do walls work? Just ask Israel. They work, if it’s properly done. It’s time to dismantle the gangs terrorising our citizens. It is time to ensure every young American can be raised in an environment of decency, dignity, love and support,” he said. 

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and US President Donald Trump spoke over phone on January 27, a Mexican official said, amid diplomatic tensions over Trump’s border wall plan. On January 25, Trump signed an executive order telling officials to begin to “plan, design and construct a physical wall” along the 3,200-kilometre (2,000-mile) US-Mexico border, making good on a campaign pledge.

Earlier, two top US senators had proposed a legislation to cut the number of legal immigrants to the US by half within a decade, a move that could adversely hit those aspiring to get a green card or permanent residency in the US, including a large number of Indians. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment, or Raise Act, introduced by Republican senator Tom Cotton and David Perdue from the Democratic party, would alter the US immigration system to significantly reduce the number of foreigners admitted to the country without a skills-based visa. The bill proposed to reduce the number of green card or legal permanent residency issued every year from currently about a million to half a million.