Ana Kasparian On Trump Wall: ‘More Mexicans Leaving Than Coming Into’ Country

Ana Kasparian, host of The Young Turks, featured a recent article by The Atlantic in last night’s show that pointed to the lyrics of a well-known Los Tigres del Norte song, “Jaula de Oro,” which means “Cage of Gold,” to help explain how President Donald Trump’s plan for a wall to be constructed along the entire southern border with Mexico may actually have consequences opposite from those desired by the president and his supporters.

The Atlantic writes that the Trump wall may “discourage migrants from leaving the United States, rather than preventing their entrance in the first place” — creating what is described as a “cage of gold.”

Kasparian suggested that this might be an unintended consequence that the Trump administration has not fully considered. She noted statistics from Pew Research indicating that immigration from Mexico is at “all-time low” following the 2008 subprime mortgage meltdown. From 2009 to 2014, there was a net loss of 140,000 Mexican immigrants. The host explained the theory that a less porous border might cause some undocumented immigrants considering returning to home to Mexico to rethink their plans because it might be impossible to reenter the United States again in the future.

“Prior to 1986,” Kasparian explained, “it was actually a very porous border.”

The TYT host cited the increased border security implemented by the administration of former President Ronald Reagan’s as causing a shift in immigration patterns between Mexico and the United States. Previously, undocumented, predominantly male, immigrants would travel to the United States for short periods to work and then return to Mexico. After border security increased, in 1986, the workers became fearful of returning to Mexico and began bringing their wives and family with them. She noted absurdity in the fact that Ronald Reagan’s strong immigration stance actually led to an increase in undocumented immigrants.

TYT co-founder Cenk Uygur reminded viewers that, even though Reagan was a conservative, he was responsible for introducing amnesty for undocumented immigrants, “not kind-of amnesty, no pretend amnesty, actual amnesty.” Uygur noted that “by today’s standards,” Reagan’s stance would be viewed as being so left of center that it would make a Democratic primary candidate unmarketable.

Kasparian found frustration with the fact that more media outlets are not making light of what she sees as the biggest “take away” of the story, “more Mexicans are leaving than coming into the country! Why are we going to spend billions of dollars… on a border wall that is such a huge waste of money.”

Uygur credited Kasparian for “pounding the drum” on the fact that there is net negative immigration from Mexico and held up that fact that she has expressed her views on outlets like CNN and that the information is usually received as being novel.

The TYT founder speculated that Trump’s incompetence will prevent the wall from ever being completed, but suggested that undocumented immigrants would be “literally trapped” in the United States if it was. Voice of America has recently featured the trips made by some undocumented immigrants between New York State and the Province of Quebec, something that Uygur offered is on the increase with the presidency of Donald Trump.

Ana Kasparian addressed a view seemingly held by some that border personnel would not interfere with undocumented people attempting to illegally cross back into Mexico by citing President Trump’s policy shift away from “catch and release” to one where people found in violation of the law will be detained. Cenk Uygur noted Trump’s plans for new, privately run prisons to hold captured immigrants, where a profit motive to maximize the number of people detained will likely exist. He called the potential outcome “the exact opposite” of the goal supporters of Donald Trump seemed interested in attaining when they voted him into the White House.

[Featured Image by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images]