The Texas border wall has always been a nonstarter of an idea in my head, but this morning I thought I'd spend a little time checking out facts versus rhetoric. This is the most interesting article I came across...

https://tinyurl.com/yd8vcpau

As it stands, illegal immigration from Mexico to the United States has been on the decline for nearly 15 years, thanks in large part to Mexico's improving economy and slowing population growth. Simply put, the country is far richer than it has been at any point in its history, and its population is no longer expanding so rapidly that its youths feel compelled to leave in droves to seek better opportunity in the United States.

Instead, Central America is now responsible for most of the fluctuation in illegal migrant flows northward. The trip across Mexico is not an easy one for Central Americans, who often fall victim to cartels and corrupt police officers as they travel north. Female migrants are routinely raped, and all face daily perils such as starvation and dehydration. In Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, beggars on street corners who are missing limbs are often those who risked the trip and failed to make it past Mexican territory.