The United States is safer today than at nearly any other point in the last 25 years. In an article recently published in World Development, we showed how return migrants have contributed to significant reductions in violence across Mexico. A border wall is unlikely to improve security. Regarding Trump’s government shutdown and his claims of a “crisis” at the border, our work implies that a border wall with Mexico ― no matter who funds it ― is unlikely to improve security in the U.S. Rather, like all walls, the proposed border wall is about constructing a cultural barrier, not a physical one.

Source: Huffington Post January 10, 2019 18:33 UTC