Government shutdown over border wall

As of this writing, the US government has been in a partial shutdown for two weeks because of President Trump’s insistence on a five billion dollar budget for a border wall. Democrats have refused to budge on this issue calling the wall unnecessarily expensive, immoral, and something that doesn’t actually address the problem of illegal immigration.

With these two intractable positions not reaching a compromise, thousands of federal employees, whose positions are considered non-essential, are furloughed with no assurance of receiving any wages. In the meantime, government agencies directly affected by the shutdown have either closed down or have minimized their operations which directly hamper the delivery of services.

It is such a pitiful sight to the point of being childish that our leaders behave this way. The general public should not be denied the services it deserves just because one person or one party does not or is not willing to set aside his position.

There are two things at work here.

One is from the policy standpoint. Trump is strengthening his hardline stance that the wall is good for the security and safety of the country. It is expected of a president as part of his constitutional obligation to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty in any way he deems possible. In fact, Trump claims he can build a wall without congressional approval if he deems the immigration problem as a national emergency. I do not think there is as a doubt here by both parties that strengthening the border is a paramount national policy.

Which brings us to the next consideration at work here. This is also all about politics, from both sides.

Trump, without a doubt, is playing to the fear of his base voters here. If we can recall “Build that wall” was a campaign slogan chanted by his supporters during his campaign rallies. He even boasted that he will let Mexico pay for building his wall. Now halfway through his term, Trump is at the point where he has to fulfill his campaign promises. If he fails to transform his rhetoric into action, then he might just as well forget his pathway to being reelected.

On the other hand, the Democrats, now boosted by their majority in the House would not permit to be seen as aiding and abetting Trump’s ambitious plans. With a new class of resurgent Congress members with a different brand of political ideals, both leaders in the House and in the Senate are in a bind on how to placate the different and opposing factions within their party. Immigration, being a hot button issue as it already is, certainly comes at the forefront in any major engagements with the Trump administration.

We have to wait how long the shutdown gets resolved. At this point, nobody knows exactly when this whole drama will end. I hope a compromise will be reached soon in order to break this impasse.

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US-licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader’s specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at [email protected]