Editorial roundup

Jan. 2 Newsday Proposed border wall

A wall is a wall is a wall. President Donald Trump has been pretty consistent about that since he began campaigning for the White House. He has vacillated on the material to be used in its construction, but the fervor of his base and the jabs of Fox News commentators keep Trump wedded to a big, beautiful, physically imposing barrier to stop immigrants from crossing our Southern border. So the federal government continues to be shut down over his insistence on many billions to fund his wall. …

If Trump wants to make a deal, he will find that House Democrats as well as Senate Republicans share his concern for a more secure border. That can be achieved without building a wall, and Trump will have to acknowledge it. Congress and the administration must open an official investigation into the recent deaths of two Guatemalan children in U.S. custody. What we don’t need in 2019 are any more remarks of the kind delivered recently by Rep. Peter King, who tried to minimize those tragedies by comparing them with the deaths of children in New York City housing projects. That was cheap and insensitive; we expect more of him.

We also expect everyone involved in the political posturing fueling this stalemate to recognize that the border never will be as secure as it could be without truly comprehensive immigration reform to bring some sanity and fairness to a troubled and broken process. Also needed: more investments in troubled Central American nations to end the violence there and create more economic opportunity.

Trump’s back is to the wall, and he won’t move the nation forward by blaming anyone else.