The right has been quick to trot out the analogy that you would never leave your doors unlocked, or have a house with no walls or a fence … so why don't you want the same for your country? This analogy is somewhat intuitive to half the country, and seems completely ridiculous to the other half, but why? What is really so wrong with it? Let me count the ways!
On a most basic level, very few people have fences for strong security. As even wall proponents will point out, the most a fence does against a motivated intruder is slow them down. Most people create a fence as part of a visual aesthetic, a privacy barrier, or a way to keep their pets and children on their property. "You built a fence, therefore you should build a wall" doesn't hold water - they address different problems. Furthermore, if my fence doesn't wrap around my entire property, the intruder will just walk to the part where there is no fence and come in there. A partial fence is useless as a barrier.
Well, but you wouldn't build a house without walls, would you? Of course not, that'd be antithetical to the point of a house: to keep the weather out. Houses are, first and foremost, a form of shelter: a defense from the elements. We put valuable things into the same houses as well and also want to protect them from the rain and freeze and scorching sun. We place windows into those walls so we can get natural sunlight and bask in our surroundings. These windows present a super weak barrier against intruders: a simple crowbar or rock will defeat the window in seconds. Motivated invaders are definitely not deterred.
Fine then, your house is basically worthless for defense. So why do you lock your doors then? I suspect this is largely for the same reason that people want a wall on the southern border: it will make them feel safer. Most doors are pretty easy to kick in, and if not, there are those windows again. Certainly depending on the neighborhood, people may walk by and try to open random doors. Locking them will deter some less-motivated intruders: the opportunists. Those who think there is something of value within, and think they can quickly come in, and get out with it, with a reduced chance of being noticed.
So, how motivated are people who are coming over the border? And what are they coming for? I hear they are incredibly motivated and are coming for our jobs. In the above analogy, the highly motivated intruder will not be kept out by the defenses presented by most homes. But, the thing they want is to intrude and then stay... which is exactly not what the home intruder is trying to do. And we know they are staying, because we're so full of illegal aliens, right?
We're talking about erecting the equivalent of proposing a nuisance fence as a serious part of a solution to the problem of motivated people wanting to come into our house and then wash our dishes and laundry and all the other things we really don't like to do. If you don't want someone else handling your undies, that's fine, but don't pretend that a single silly barrier will make the difference between them trying to come here and not.
On a most basic level, very few people have fences for strong security. As even wall proponents will point out, the most a fence does against a motivated intruder is slow them down. Most people create a fence as part of a visual aesthetic, a privacy barrier, or a way to keep their pets and children on their property. "You built a fence, therefore you should build a wall" doesn't hold water - they address different problems. Furthermore, if my fence doesn't wrap around my entire property, the intruder will just walk to the part where there is no fence and come in there. A partial fence is useless as a barrier.
Well, but you wouldn't build a house without walls, would you? Of course not, that'd be antithetical to the point of a house: to keep the weather out. Houses are, first and foremost, a form of shelter: a defense from the elements. We put valuable things into the same houses as well and also want to protect them from the rain and freeze and scorching sun. We place windows into those walls so we can get natural sunlight and bask in our surroundings. These windows present a super weak barrier against intruders: a simple crowbar or rock will defeat the window in seconds. Motivated invaders are definitely not deterred.
Fine then, your house is basically worthless for defense. So why do you lock your doors then? I suspect this is largely for the same reason that people want a wall on the southern border: it will make them feel safer. Most doors are pretty easy to kick in, and if not, there are those windows again. Certainly depending on the neighborhood, people may walk by and try to open random doors. Locking them will deter some less-motivated intruders: the opportunists. Those who think there is something of value within, and think they can quickly come in, and get out with it, with a reduced chance of being noticed.
So, how motivated are people who are coming over the border? And what are they coming for? I hear they are incredibly motivated and are coming for our jobs. In the above analogy, the highly motivated intruder will not be kept out by the defenses presented by most homes. But, the thing they want is to intrude and then stay... which is exactly not what the home intruder is trying to do. And we know they are staying, because we're so full of illegal aliens, right?
We're talking about erecting the equivalent of proposing a nuisance fence as a serious part of a solution to the problem of motivated people wanting to come into our house and then wash our dishes and laundry and all the other things we really don't like to do. If you don't want someone else handling your undies, that's fine, but don't pretend that a single silly barrier will make the difference between them trying to come here and not.
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