Donald Trump, current US president and 72-year-old toddler, only wanted one thing for Christmas: Funding for a big, beautiful wall between the United States and Mexico.
Just imagine, 2,000 miles of "artistically designed steel slats" - so beautiful! It would make such a great national landmark. The Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore." And the border wall says, "F*** YOU! GO BACK TO YOUR SH*THOLE COUNTRY!"
Unfortunately, President Trump has not been able to secure funding for the wall, despite Republicans controlling all three branches of government. During his presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly said that Mexico would pay for the wall, to which they replied, to use a little español: No. No, no, no!
According to various reports, the wall is estimated to cost anywhere from $21.6 billion to $70 billion, plus the annual cost of maintenance. Critics say the wall is an exorbitantly expensive non-solution to a non-problem. They argue that the border is already well-defended, it is unclear how the 'wall' would 'pay for itself,' and illegal immigrants could circumnavigate the barrier with ladders, tunnels and overextended visas.
Furthermore, studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than the native-born. Xenophobic grifters like to fearmonger about migrant caravans and violent criminal aliens, but researchers agree that it's impossible to quantify the impact on crime rates from illegal immigration.
Last week the House of Representatives passed a spending bill that included $5.1 billion for wall funding, but it is likely to die in the Senate. There are currently 51 Republican Senators and 49 Democratic Senators. The Democrats are staunchly against it, and not even all the Republicans are on board.
A bipartisan spending bill previously passed both the Senate and the House, but Trump refused to sign it. As a result, they missed the deadline, and the government has partially shut down. 420,000 "essential" federal employees continue to work, and will be paid retroactively when the shutdown is over, and, 380,000 federal employees face furlough - unpaid time off. Merry Christmas everyone!
Today President Trump threw another desperate Twitter tantrum, threatening to close the Southern border 'entirely' if the liberal members of Congress don't bend the knee: "We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall," he tweeted, presumably while stomping his foot and pouting.
As the tirade continued, the president demanded changes to "ridiculous immigration laws," threatened to end the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), claimed he would cut off aid to Central American countries, stirred up hysteria about another migrant caravan, and, of course, capitalized Random Words. (Why does He do That?)
It looks like both sides are at an impasse, but that might change when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3rd. In response to the shutdown, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement through her chief of staff:
“Democrats have offered Republicans three options to re-open government that all include funding for strong, sensible, and effective border security — but not the president’s immoral, ineffective and expensive wall. With the House Majority, Democrats will act swiftly to end the Trump Shutdown, and will fight for a strategic, robust national security policy, including strong and smart border security, and strong support for our service members and veterans."
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