No end in sight for US government shutdown

President Donald Trump threatened yesterday to seal off the US-Mexico border “entirely” if Congress does not approve billions of dollars in funding for a wall. In a burst of early morning tweets the president said the alternative to funding his hugely controversial wall project would be total separation from Mexico -- including making US car companies pull out their factories based on the other side of the frontier.

The threat yet again upped the ante in a political row that has led to a partial shutdown of the US government and seems set to dominate the start to the third year of Trump’s presidency. “We will be forced to close the Southern Border entirely if the Obstructionist Democrats do not give us the money to finish the Wall & also change the ridiculous immigration laws that our Country is saddled with,” Trump tweeted.

With the border shut, Trump said he would take US-Mexican relations back to the days before the NAFTA agreement opened free trade across Canada, Mexico and the United States. That would “bring our car industry back into the United States where it belongs,” he said. Trump did not make any mention of the new free trade agreement, known as the USMCA, which he only recently signed with the two neighboring countries to replace NAFTA and which he has repeatedly praised as a huge boost for American commerce.

$5 billion question

Trump wants $5 billion in funding for a wall along the more than 2,000-mile border, which he says is currently too porous to stop illegal immigration and which he says has become a magnet for criminals, drugs and even terrorists. Opponents -- especially in the Democratic party but also some in Trump’s Republican party -- say that a physical wall is impractical and that the idea is being used as a political tool to whip up xenophobia in Trump’s right-wing voter base.

Both sides have dug in. Democrats refuse to approve funding and the president -- who has made hardline immigration polices a centerpiece of his presidency -- has retaliated by refusing to sign off on a wider spending bill, leaving some 800,000 federal employees without pay. Negotiations on lifting that partial government shutdown, perhaps by providing some border security funding, have sputtered out and no new debate is scheduled before next Wednesday.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders accused Democrats of “openly choosing to keep our government closed to protect illegal immigrants rather than the American people.” She said Trump “will not sign a proposal that does not first prioritize our country’s safety and security.” As long as the wall debate holds up approval of a wider spending bill, about 800,000 federal employees are not getting salaries and non-essential parts of the government are unable to function. Trump made clear he does not intend to give way first.

Taken govt hostage

In a tweet Thursday, he once more accused Democrats of wanting to encourage illegal immigrants, “an Open Southern Border and the large scale crime that comes with such stupidity!” “Need to stop Drugs, Human Trafficking, Gang Members & Criminals from coming into our Country,” he said in another tweet, also lambasting “Democrat obstruction of the needed Wall.” Opponents, including some in his Republican party, accuse the president of exaggerating the danger from illegal immigration for his own political gain.

“No end in sight to the President’s government shutdown,” Dick Durbin, a senior Democratic senator, tweeted. “He’s taken our government hostage over his outrageous demand for a $5 billion border wall that would be both wasteful and ineffective.”