That's the first I have heard about people being anything other than shocked that the wall went up in Berlin. You have a source for that claim. I am sure the communists sold it as a benefit, but I doubt anyone bought it.
My source is a book on the topic by Frederick Taylor. Sounds surprising but things are seldom all black and white and there are always naive people who think their government is not so evil and would never do harm to them (or at least not too much !).
In my own recollection of the book, some Easterners were relieved because of the economic imbalance between East and West. Remember the Western residents were getting paid in stronger currency, thus they had 'unfair advantage' on the other side of the Wall.
Some 'Berliners' were working in the Western part of Berlin, but living in the East (paying low rent), or were doing shopping in the East while leaving in the West, depleting the already half-empty shelves of department stores.
The Berlin wall was effective because it was manned, and this is where it gets expensive. Building a wall along a 6000 Km border is going to cost a lot of money. Billions ? I am wondering what kind of ROI is to be had here ? Who's going to build it ? Halliburton and friends ?
The US could as well grant a portion of that money to boost Mexico's economy: after all immigration is a distortion caused by the gap in economic development between the two countries. The wall doesn't solve any problem, the only long-term, sustainable solution would be to improve local conditions on the other side of the wall.
That's why I said relocating manufacturing to the US can be a miscalculation: Mexicans need to work and earn a decent living too - if they can't they will keep moving up north.
A wall is very visible and tangible, and has strong symbolic value, but the most prominent measures are seldom the most cost-effective. Remember:
America will pay for the wall.
Surviving authoritarianism: Polish advice for the US