The Arizona Republic

Government shutdown would be on Democrats

- Your Turn Jan Brewer is former governor of Arizona. Follow her on Twitter, @GovBrewer.

promise he made the last time a spending bill was passed last spring.

“I will never sign another bill like this again,” he said when Congress failed to include border wall appropriat­ions in March.

President Trump won in 2016 based largely on the pledge that he would build the wall, and America is counting on him to deliver.

He has already secured an initial down payment of $1.6 billion in border funding, which is being used to build and rebuild barriers and sections of a wall at the border, but he needs Congress to approve the $25 billion needed to finish the job.

If a government shutdown does occur – itself a misnomer since only about 17 percent of government services, all nonessenti­al, cease operations per 2013 shutdown – you can blame the Democrats and their obstructio­nist agenda for the consequenc­es.

Their open borders agenda and refusal to negotiate with the White House have only exacerbate­d the situation, leaving Trump with no other option.

The president’s good faith efforts to work with Democrats on immigratio­n have been met with Democrat obstructio­n and obfuscatio­n.

While the president has dramatical­ly enhanced enforcemen­t with significan­t results thus far, the Democrats have done everything in their power to prevent a real solution, and some of their leaders want to make the problem even worse.

Prominent Democrats such as Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren want to abolish Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t -- a disastrous proposal that will encourage more illegal immigratio­n and make our communitie­s less safe.

They ignore the fact that border walls are actually proven to be effective and life-saving. The town of El Paso, Texas is a perfect example. Federal data show that a border wall has already reduced both illegal immigrant crossings and crime in Texas’ sixth-largest city — which borders Ciudad Juarez, one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities.

The number of illegal immigrants apprehende­d by border patrol agents fell drasticall­y over the six-year period after the town’s border wall was built.

Before the project first started in 2006, illegal crossings totaled 122,261 per year, but by 2012, after the 131-mile wall was completed, illegal immigrant crossings dropped to below 9,700 per year — more than a 90 percent decrease.

President Trump is refusing to play the Democrat’s game and will take extraordin­ary measures to ensure that his solemn pledge to the American people to build a wall is fulfilled.

In this high stakes game of chicken, President Trump will stay the course and the American people will ultimately win. PLACE YOUR RECRUITMEN­T AD IN THE LARGEST JOB NETWORK BY CALLING 1-888-262-2149 OR EMAIL PHOENIXJOB­S@GANNETT.COM

 ?? Jan Brewer Guest columnist ??
Jan Brewer Guest columnist

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