Focus on domestic terrorism, not border wall

Our president believes that the threat to national security from people trying to illegally enter through our Southern border is so great that only a big wall will protect us — and it’s worth shutting down the federal government until he gets funding to build it. To be honest, I’m a lot less afraid of being “invaded” by poor migrants coming through Mexico than I am of the homegrown terrorists plotting violence against my neighbors and me right here in good, old Allegheny County.

Did we forget that the man who murdered 11 people in Squirrel Hill not long ago hatched his heinous scheme in a quiet South Hills suburb? Shouldn’t we be focusing on real threats to national security instead of phony ones that are rooted in bigotry? Imagine if just a bit of the energy devoted to this ridiculous wall were directed to protecting us from the real (not imagined) danger from domestic terrorists who want to murder us in our schools, places of worship and other public spaces.

Among the things all citizens should expect from their government, maintenance of the peace and protection from attacks by terrorists are pretty fundamental. I do not see how a wall between the U.S. and Mexico addresses any of our real problems. In fact, the president’s fearmongering about the “dangerous people” trying to get into our country at the border has no doubt made us less safe.

The president’s xenophobic obsession with a border wall has emboldened those who believe that refugees and immigrants are the source of our country’s problems. One of these emboldened people murdered my neighbors on Oct. 27. I believe our national security is threatened more by people like him than by desperate families seeking shelter in the United States.

The idea of a wall keeping us safe from terrorists, given the record of mass shootings and other domestic attacks, would be laughable if it wasn’t so tragic. Shutting down the government to get funding for this farce insults us all. SARA DAVIS BUSS Squirrel Hill