A wall to nowhere

The aging bridges, tunnels, sewage systems, dams, electric grids, commuter trains and subways of the United States are desperate for upgrades — improvements that will pay dividends in jobs today and productivity tomorrow. Yet while White House plans for that urgent revival have yet to emerge, President Trump is obsessed with a single, unnecessary $20 billion construction project that will, if anything, be a drag on economic growth.

It is, you guessed it, that “big, beautiful” 2,000-mile wall he wants to run along the length of the U.S.-Mexico border, a supposed solution to everything from undocumented immigration to drug addiction. Building a border wall is a perverse priority. While Mexicans once poured into the United States, from 2009 to 2014, more left the U.S. than came here. The number of crossings in 2015 was one-tenth of the total in 2005.

Meanwhile, putting bricks or concrete or stone many feet wide and high between the two nations would undoubtedly drag on a productive trade relationship that adds up to $1 billion a day — and sustains 6 million American jobs.

And it’s costly and complex, far more so than Trump has ever admitted.

Much of the border with our southern neighbor is made up of the Rio Grande river — a waterway on which thousands upon thousands of Americans depend. Does Trump intend to disrupt that access in order to put up an impenetrable barrier? Nobody knows.

Then, there’s the expensive and elaborate process of obtaining the land. Before the government can construct on property, it needs to own it.

In Texas, which constitutes half of the stretch in question, the government only owns 100 miles of the 1,200-mile border.

Even if all that territory is eventually claimed through the eminent domain process, it will cost billions of dollars and take years of effort to make happen.

Indeed, bipartisan plans to build a 700-mile border fence that started a decade ago resulted in a barrier full of gaps because property owners fought in court.

Yet despite such high costs, such tremendous complications, such minimal need — and intelligent alternatives, like a virtual wall with hightech sensors — the President has promised, promised and promised again to build his precious wall. And he has promised, promised and promised again that Mexico will foot the bill.

The Mexican government has made clear that is not going to happen; the closest facsimile to making Mexico pay will be a proposed tax hike on all products that come over the border — in effect, a tax on American consumers.

Which leaves Trump trying to find nickels to rub together in a Washington where Republicans who claim to care about balanced budgets are already understandably balking at the President’s many other big-ticket expenditures.

According to a document obtained by Reuters late last week, the Department of Homeland Security has only found $20 million that can be redirected to the project.

That is 0.1% of the government’s own estimated $21.6 billion cost.

For now, any additional funding will have to come from slashing other programs, a process already made more painful by the fact that domestic discretionary spending is getting cut by more than $50 billion to pay for a military buildup.

On Monday, the feds will start accepting bids from private contractors for prototype designs for the massive physical barrier. Prototype construction is set for late April, when testing will follow.

The President is scrambling to make progress on one very big, very bad infrastructure project while dozens of very good ones await leadership and money.

Ay caramba.