What the columnists said
Immigration hard-liners could have had a wall if they really wanted one, said Matthew Yglesias in Vox.com. Democrats last year offered $25 billion in wall funding in return for legalizing the Dreamers, but the Trump administration nixed it. The truth, of course, is that all but the most rabid immigration hawks know the wall is “ridiculous.” The most vulnerable parts of the border already have 700 miles of fencing. In remote areas, construction would be difficult and expensive. Meanwhile, the number of people sneaking over the border has fallen dramatically, with about two-thirds of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. legally and overstaying their visas. But Trump can never admit his signature campaign promise is pointless, so we’re stuck with an “intractable” shutdown.
It’s the Democrats who are intransigent, said Byron York in the Washington Examiner. The party has supported border walls in the past, including 700 miles of new fencing that was included in the failed 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill. But the party has moved far to the left on immigration in reaction to Trump. Liberals increasingly see any new barriers on the southern border as beyond the pale, with Nancy Pelosi herself calling a border wall “immoral.” Nine federal departments haven’t received any funding in more than a week, said
and in Politico.com, and for these agencies and the people they serve, “the shutdown is reaching a breaking point.” Paychecks won’t be sent out, loans and subsidies to farmers are halting, and key services are being put on hold. Federal courts have enough money left to operate through
Jan. 11. The national parks, which have no working staff, have been filling up with garbage and human waste. The shutdown has been especially hard on Indian country, said and
in The New York Times. The Bureau of Indian Affairs has furloughed more than half of its 4,490 employees, leaving many tribes without critical medical and social services supposedly guaranteed by treaties. “The federal government owes us this,” said Aaron Payment, chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe in Michigan. “We prepaid with millions of acres of land.”
“Both sides are convinced the standoff benefits them politically,” said Ed Kilgore in New York magazine. Polls show more Americans blame Trump for the shutdown and that the wall is generally unpopular, which is why Democrats won’t give him any “facesaving concessions.” Trump nevertheless seems convinced that a big fight over the border will distract the new Democratic majority from launching committee investigations of him. It also plays well to his base, which he needs to keep angry and activated for his political survival. So the shutdown will continue until the political damage to Trump and the GOP becomes impossible to ignore.