The government shutdown has crossed thirty-day mark. There is no end in sight. President Trump wants border security. Democrats would rather re-open the government and let this agenda item for the Trump White House suffocate. The party of sanctuary cities says they’re for border security. It’s nonsense. It’s not like a lot of money is the cause of this shutdown. Trump only request around $5 billion for part of his wall. Democrats, adhering to their base that wants to block Trump at all costs, are digging in, so is the president. Some Democrats view the wall as immoral, while others think it’s not if it keeps people safe. That’s Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer, the two top House Democrats, respectively. No one is going to budge, but while the wall is considered anathema to the Left, some Democrats are not totally ruling out supporting a wall or barrier.
On ABC’s This Week, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, told Martha Raddatz that support for barriers is not out of the question, though he leans towards a more tech-based approach to border security. He also said that Democrats had supported physical barriers in the past and that negotiating their way out of the shutdown was not out of reach. He did note that the president keeps changing his definition of what physical barrier he wants, which complicates things.
While that might be reassuring in terms of niceties, we all know this is total bunk. House Democrats were elected to fight Trump. They want to stop his agenda, and they don’t really care about government workers either. Their little trip to Puerto Rico sort of gave that away. Over the weekend, Trump proposed a three-year extension to DACA recipients and extensions to those with Temporary Protected Status designation in exchange for the funds he has requested for part of his wall. Democrats rejected it outright, which is odd since it’s exactly what they proposed in 2017.
I have no doubts that there are a few Democrats who are willing to vote for the wall funding in exchange for DACA protections but fear to reap the wrath of the progressive base.