(To what extent) will Trump's plans, the implementation of the zero tolerance policy and the building of a wall between America and Mexico, be effective in combating the MS-13 criminal gang?

Quick answer: No, none of that will be effective.

The gangs are smarter than the government and they will quickly adapt to the wall. They will figure out a way – they always have in the past.

The wall (and Trump’s support for it) has nothing to do with gangs and very little to do with immigration. For him, it is all about politics and showing his supporters that he has kept one promise.

Building it would be damn-near impossible (cost, and having to get land rights). It would probably benefit organized criminals, as they can build tunnels/infrastructure and smuggle people through more effectively than disorganized attempts.

The wall isn’t being built to keep out MS 13, it is being built so that Trump can claim he did something.

Absolutely useless. Any blockhead believing fixed fortifications as even a semblance of a remedy to gang
proliferation belongs in an institution for the chronically feeble minded. And the zero tolerance policy is but a thinly disguised effort to extend the very successful goal of locking up black men to equivalent devastation of the Hispanic community.

It will.have little to no effect. On anything. Except to waste a lot of money, or make a contractor hired to build the wall wealthy.

MS-13, has been in America for decades. It recruits, from American communities mainly. In other words, people who are already here. It has a high presence in US prisons, and is a sort of part, of many Latino gangs. Many Latino gangs, pay homage, to MS-13. They have a close, or loose connection to the original MS-13.

You could think of it like ISIS, in the Middle East. You cannot stop, an ideology. Certainly not with a wall. The Great Wall of China, didn’t stop the Mongolians. The technology (walls) is,thousands of years old, and has been obsolete, for hundreds of years.

It’s conceivable, that the gangs will grow in numbers, as the gang members already here multiply/reproduce. Trump’s policy, will simply round them up, and imprison them. Where they will grow in numbers. Think about it. These are smaller gangs, in isolated areas. Bringing them all together, in prisons, should only increase their numbers, as more people will join, for protection.
Overall, the wall, and Trump’s policies, will likely increase the numbers exponentially. And if/when the members are let back into civilization, they will recruit, even more civilians…

ALL of Trump’s wall designs, have already been proven to be easily climbed, or sawed through, with hack saws. A hack saw, can saw through anything metal. I’ve seen videos showing that it would only take a determined person 20–30 minutes, to cut through his walls. At least a small enough hole, to climb through.

The terrain, where most of the wall is to be constructed, is already a wall. It is desert, and tundra, with millions of hills, and no food , or water sources, for dozens of miles. There is a very easy to understand reason, that a wall was never constructed there, to begin with. Hundreds of miles, of where the wall is to be built, is on the Rio Grande.A river that hundreds drown in, trying to criss annually. And. The wall will need to be built on land owned by thousands of people. Who won’t give up their land easily. But Trump will steal (use imminent domain laws,) to take it from them. Ironically, lots of these land owners voted for the fool…Now. They will lose land, for a useless wall….

Many of the people who traveled that far, will find the wall, the easiest obstacle, after walking hundreds or thousands of miles, through harsh terrain. A $20 hack saw, is affordable, and light. Shouldn’t be a problem, for most to carry.

The wall, if built, will cost billions of dollars, and ultimately do almost nothing to stop people who are crossing into the US…

The wall, is without a doubt, the single dumbest idea, I have ever heard of, from a person with any type of power…

^^^ An interesting theory, but the walls are well patrolled and surveiled. They mainly serve as barricades. There are more masses getting in that can be apprehended, but they could certainly capture someone trying to use a hacksaw.

About as effective as smashing liquor casks was in defeating Al Capone.

@Yellowdog . As always, I respect your opinion. But you don’t seem to understand the vast area, that the wall would have to cover. It would take a border patrol vehicle, longer to get to an area, that it would for someone to cut through it.

I’ve said before, in different threads, that I would support a wall if would be effective. I would support a sort of deflector shield wall, like something from Star Trek, but that technology doesn’t exist…

A wall, is stupid…Period…