[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

The biggest mistake the US has made during negotiations at the end of the Mexican War was not purchasing Baja California and the strip of land immediately south of what is now NM and AZ.

Not only would Baja California would be a tourist and vacation boom for Americans, it would have also created a buffer between the U.S. and Mexico. Illegal immigration would be nearly non-existent, and we could easily have controlled the Rio Grande River.

[jmacusa]

Damn Zachary Taylor. He could have rolled up the whole country after The Battle of Monterrey and annexed the whole country.

[Svartalfiar]

How would owning Baja CA and some land below NM/AZ prevent illegals from getting into Texas?

How would it prevent them getting into AZ or NM or CA? The border would just be closer to where they’re coming from, not impossible to get across...?