Many people are appalled by the very thought of a wall — or any form of physical barrier — along the U.S.-Mexican border. Yet when one queries the children of second-, third- or even fourth-generation American immigrants, there exists a considerable amount of sympathy for at least the idea of some barriers to stem the flow of illegal immigrants who circumvent the very legal process their antecedents endured when they arrived on these shores. They acutely feel the fundamental unfairness, and they are resentful for good reason.
And the irony is that many of the same people who find the wall idea reprehensible voiced not a whisper of protest over the U.S.-condoned and subsidized Apartheid Wall that Israel constructed across Palestinian territory, effectively barring Palestinian farmers from their agricultural lands, family and friends. Not only did we sanction this barrier in a region we claim to be unbiased about and fair dealers in, but then the U.S. government allows illegal settlements to be constructed with low interest loans underwritten by U.S. backed subsidies.
These kinds of double standards underscore why both Trump and Sanders supporters are up in arms over the status quo and are demanding change.
Brad Brigham
Colrain