There are a lot of reasons why Democrats are refusing to provide taxpayer funds for Trump’s wall. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the government shutdown isn’t about those funds. Instead, it’s all about Trump’s ego.
Even so, this might be a good time to remind everyone of some facts.
Everything the president says about immigration is a lie.
- Immigrants are not pouring across our southern border.
- Immigrants are not more likely to be criminals.
- Immigrants are not taking away your job.
- Immigrants do not pose a terroristic threat.
The $5 billion Trump is asking for is simply a down-payment. At this point, no one knows exactly how much a wall will cost. But here are some of the estimates we’ve seen:
The wall will be ineffective.
Undocumented workers and drugs will still find their way across any barrier the administration ends up building. And such a wall will be irrelevant to those people who become undocumented immigrants by overstaying their visas—who for many years have outnumbered those who become undocumented immigrants by crossing the U.S.–Mexico border.
Finally, there’s this:
— Beto O’Rourke (@BetoORourke) December 28, 2018
Each one of those would be reason enough to oppose building a wall. But taken together, they make an overwhelming case against doing so.
