Donald Trump’s Immigration Policy Discussed On ‘Last Week Tonight’

The major focus of Donald Trump’s immigration policy is his plan to build a wall on the border of Mexico.

On March 20, 2016 John Oliver dedicated an entire episode of his HBO talk show, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, to discussing the logistics and feasibility of this proposed wall. Oliver discussed the cost of the wall, the theory that Mexico would pay for it, as well as the question of where exactly the wall would be placed. Oliver pointed out that Trump had initially stated (on CNN on Sept. 14, 2015 at 5:40 pm P.T.)  that the cost of the wall would be $4 billion—a number that has since grown to $12 billion. Going over the mathematics of Mr. Trump’s estimate wall-length (1,000 miles), height (between 30 and 55 feet), and building-material (hard-concrete, rebar, and steel), Oliver determined that it would cost $25 billion, to just build the wall. Further analyzing the cost effectiveness (or lack thereof), Oliver pointed out the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the wall maintenance costs would exceed the initial construction costs within seven years. According to Donald Trump’s campaign website, as well as multiple debates and reports, Mexico will be responsible for paying for the wall. Oliver touched upon that as well, showing clips of two former presidents of Mexico saying  Mexico would not be paying for the wall.

At the end of the episode, Oliver made a counter-proposal to Trump’s wall plan: “If the main thing it’s going to get us is a warm sense of satisfaction inside, I suggest instead of building that wall, we use the money to buy every man, woman, and child in America a Palmer Waffle Iron,” said Oliver. “These beauties retail at $75 apiece, so we’d still have nearly $1 billion left over,” said Oliver. “This waffle iron plan will cost less, will do nearly as much to keep out immigrants and drugs, it won’t harm our relationship with our third-largest trading partner, if it is racist it’s only toward Belgians, and unlike Donald Trump’s wall, this makes f**king waffles!”

 

Skip to toolbar