Making a fuss out of nothing?

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Editor's note: Jia Wenshan is a professor at the School of Communication of Chapman University and a research fellow at the National Academy for Development & Strategy, Renmin University of China. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

I. A fuss igniting an uproar

U.S. President Donald Trump is making headlines again after a recent 35-day government shutdown, the longest in American history. In a speech in the Rose Garden at the White House on February 15 he declared a new national emergency in order to fund a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border

The reason he cited for the emergency is that the flow of illegal immigrants, many of them "gang members and drug dealers" into the U.S. over the U.S.-Mexico border have created a “national disaster” and must be stopped. However, this radical and extreme presidential declaration has been drawing an outpour of protests from all walks of American society.

U.S. Border Patrol agents listen from the front row as President Donald Trump declares a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border during remarks about border security in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2019. /VCG Photo

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called it a "lawless act, and a gross abuse of the power of the presidency".

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, argued that the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. deserves to be declared a national emergency by the President much more than a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Even Trump's own Republican base has been freaked out by this declaration, with Senate Leader McConnell reportedly trying to dissuade Trump from making this declaration, citing it as a bad idea, according to CNN.

Also, three lawsuits have been filed against Trump's allegedly illegal declaration at the federal court level and 16 U.S. states including California, New York, and New Mexico are in the process of suing the President. According to a recent poll by "NPR/Marist College", a majority of Americans, 58 percent, think that there is no emergency at the border.

II. Why a fuss?

Trump himself does not even think that the issue deserves a declaration of national emergency. He said during his national emergency declaration speech: "I didn't need to do this. But I'd rather do it much faster", according to the official transcript of the speech.

It is reported that these words are now being used against him in the upcoming lawsuits. Following the declaration, the Trump administration can now have access to 8.1 billion U.S.dollars to build a southwestern border wall instead of a mere 3.6 billion previously earmarked by Department of Defense for military construction, based on a fact sheet by the Trump administration.

One of his aides defended Trump's action by citing that stopping the flow of criminal activity from Mexico into the U.S. is part of “the core national security”. However, the NPR/Marist College poll director Lee Miringoff concluded that Trump's effort to secure funding to build the border wall by means of a declaration of emergency is an election tactic, reinforcing his electoral base for his reelection campaign.

Children peek through the border fence at Anapra neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, January 31, 2019. /VCG Photo

Trump's emergency declaration seems to be consistent with his travel ban against Muslims at the start of his presidency as well as his tactic of using a trade war with China as a bargaining chip to negotiate for a competitive edge.

In Trump's mind, the world is a naked place full of pure zero-sum games. What he only cares about is if HE wins and he does not care at all if his winning occurs at the price he has to pay for the supposed "win".

He would crush any opponent by whatever means available in order for him to win or to benefit himself. Enormous amounts of published quality research prove that illegal immigration does not increase violent crime according to NPR. Trump administration's mischaracterization about undocumented immigrants as "predatory" and crime-prone, drug-prone, or alcohol-prone demonizes an entire class of people.

In fact, according to NPR, two of the four studies find that the crime rates of the undocumented workers are lower than their U.S.-born peers. Then, why does Trump still insists on his view of illegal immigrants? The answer is that he believes in the so-called "alternative truths" consistent with populism.

Ultimately, such alternative truths serve his racist and nationalistic agenda.

III. From Alt-Rightism, and fascism to global democracy

Jason Stanley, a language philosopher from Yale, laments in his recent Syndicate article that the American public discourse is becoming more and more fascist, meaning more xenophobic, more racist, and more nationalistic due to Trumpism.

To try to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is in a way a metaphor for Trumpism: whether it is a race war between the White and the rest, a physical wall between U.S. and Mexico, a trade wall or war between U.S. and China, Trump IS dividing both the American society and the global society in more and more dramatic and radical ways.

Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico, strongly argues against Trump's effort to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border when he spoke at the World Government Summit in Dubai on February 10.

He described the American President as a machine with no passion, a divider, not a unifier, adding that Trump has a "f--- you" approach to the rest of the world. He stated: "We don't need walls, we need bridges of understanding, bridges of sharing; that is exactly what must be done in the very immediate future".

People gather to protest against U.S. President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to build a border wall, at Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan, New York, February 15, 2019. /VCG Photo

The new fight over the issue of building a wall or not is reaching a new dramatic height due to Trump's declaration of an emergency.

While Trump is apparently making a fuss out of illegal immigrants from Mexico by declaring a national emergency, the real fuss should be around him unilaterally attempting to implement his risky and dangerous vision about the future direction of both the U.S. and the World.

Therefore, Americans who are trying their best to maintain the U.S.'s inclusiveness to diversity domestically and the U.S.'s openness to the world and multilateralism against Trump deserve a high-five from the global community.

Let's not build walls among us; let's share warmth!

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