The Bargaining Chip At The Border

WAMU 88.5

Published January 29, 2018 at 10:06 AM EST

Members of a family reunite through the border wall between Mexico and United States, during the "Keep our dream alive" event, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on December 10, 2017.
Families separated by the border are reunited for three minutes through the fence that separates Ciudad Juarez Park in Mexico and Sunland in New Mexico, United States, during an event called "Keep our dream alive", organized by the Border Network for Human Rights on the International Human Rights Day. — Members of a family reunite through the border wall between Mexico and United States, during the "Keep our dream alive" event, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico on December 10, 2017. Families separated by the border are reunited for three minutes through the fence that separates Ciudad Juarez Park in Mexico and Sunland in New Mexico, United States, during an event called "Keep our dream alive", organized by the Border Network for Human Rights on the International Human Rights Day.

With guest host John Donvan.

It seems President Trump has every intention to make good on his campaign promise to build a wall along the nation’s southern border. And it seems he’s ready to make a deal to do it.

In exchange for $25 billion for planning and construction of the wall, the president says he’ll consider granting citizenship to an estimated 700,000 immigrants who were brought over the border illegally as children.

The financial, cultural and environmental costs of the wall are high. But could this be the best hope for Democrats to get a deal for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA?

We ask: What’s the wall worth? And who’s ready to pay?

GUESTS

Michel Marizco, Senior editor, KJZZ radio’s Fronteras Desk; @borderreporter

Krista Schlyer, Author, “Continental Divide: Wildlife, People, and the Border Wall”; @kristaschlyer

Priscilla Alvarez, Assistant editor, The Atlantic; @priscialva

For more, visit https://the1a.org.