No end in sight for border wall shutdown fight
What happened
President Trump dug in this week on his demand that Democrats agree to fund his long-promised wall on the Mexican border, insisting he’d keep the federal government shut down until they capitulated. The partial government shutdown, which affects approximately 800,000 workers, will likely stretch into its third week, with Trump demanding $5.6 billion to build 200 miles of barriers he is alternately calling “a wall,” a “see-through barrier,” and “steel slats.” Democrats have refused to budge from their offer to extend $1.3 billion in border security funding, which includes money for enhanced surveillance and for reinforcing existing fencing in heavily populated areas. This week, the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives was expected to quickly pass two bills funding the government at existing levels. “We are giving the Republicans the opportunity to take yes for an answer,” said incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The White House, however, called the Democrats’ legislation “a nonstarter.”
The Senate voted unanimously for a stopgap funding bill last month that did not include funding for the wall, after Trump indicated it had his support. But the president reversed course amid harsh criticism from right-wing pundits, including Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Last week, Vice President Mike Pence privately signaled to Senate Democrats that Trump would be willing to accept roughly half of what he’s asked for the wall, but Democrats— who believe most Americans oppose the wall and blame Trump for the shutdown—rebuffed the offer. Republican Senate leaders now say they won’t bring any bill to a vote that Trump opposes. Trump insisted this week that $5.6 billion in taxpayer money “is very little in comparison to the benefits of national security.” The shutdown, he told a Cabinet meeting, could last a “long time.”
What the editorials said
President Trump has walled himself into “a box canyon of his own design,” said The Wall Street Journal. If he drops his demands for a wall, he’ll “be accused of surrender by his supporters.” But if he holds firm, he’ll likely shoulder the blame for the shutdown’s impact on the public. The new Democratic majority in the House is feeling its oats and won’t budge without an enticing offer. That’s why Trump should trade a path to legalization for the “Dreamers” brought to the U.S. as children in exchange for border wall funding. If Democrats refuse, they’ll be the ones who look “small and cynical.”
“Let’s be clear: This fight is not about security,” said The New York Times. A
What next?
border wall would do nothing to address the nation’s most pressing immigration issues. That includes the wave of Central American migrants who are legally applying for asylum at border checkpoints or turning themselves over to border agents. But Trump knows the wall is an important symbol to his xenophobic base, so he’ll give them anything that he can claim meets the definition. In the meantime, “about 800,000 federal employees, and the citizens who depend on them, are being hurt for an empty political stunt.”