Trump comments on next steps after failure of Senate bills to end government shutdown
President Trump reiterates need for border wall, says Senate Leader Mitch McConnell is negotiating with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Top Democrats are using this line as their new drumbeat, “Open the government and then we will secure the border.” But how can we trust them to keep their word?
Here are four instances in the past 12 months where President Trump and Republicans have reached across the aisle looking for a deal. At every opportunity, Democrats have refused to work with Republicans to secure our border or fix our broken immigration system.
Round one: One year ago, Congress was in a very similar brinksmanship scenario. Government funding was set to run out. Obama’s illegal deportation protection program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals was ending, and Democrats requested a legislative solution. President Trump and Congressional Republicans proposed a deal: We’ll provide protection for 800,000 DACA recipients in exchange for measures to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system. Democrats refused.
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Round two: President Trump offered a new deal. He said Republicans can provide protection for 1.8 million DREAMers, almost tripling the number of recipients, in exchange for the same measures to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system. Again, Democrats refused, and the deals fell apart.
Round three: Charging our border in hopes of Democrats granting them amnesty, migrants started bringing their entire families. Per U.S. law, children were being separated from their parents and put in American homes for care while their parents’ asylum claims were investigated. Democrats cried foul and demanded children be kept with their families. Republicans like Ted Cruz and Mark Meadows proposed legislative fixes to keep children with their families and fix the asylum laws. Not one Democrat supported these measures, and the effort died.
Round four: President Trump announced Saturday he would again offer protection to DACA recipients in exchange for funds to fix the most immediate border concerns. Before Trump even made his announcement, Democrats had refused it.
Now, Democrats are telling us to ignore the past and trust them to work on a deal. Can you blame Republicans for not believing it?
Let me propose an alternative storyline: Democrats do not care whether or not our border is secure. They only care about one thing -- refusing the president a “win.”
Democrats need to end their quixotic 2020 posturing and start doing their jobs immediately. A legislator’s job is to legislate, so let’s come to the table and work on a solution.
Experts agree that a wall works. We have evidence that walls work: American cities that already have a wall like San Diego, El Paso, Tucson and Yuma have all seen illegal crossings drop usually by 90% or more.
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Soon, the shutdown’s damage to the economy will exceed the $5.7 billion cost of Trump’s border wall. It makes us look weak to our international enemies. Beyond that, it is hurting the American psyche.
And for what? Are Democrats really that scared that they believe Trump winning this fight will cost them the 2020 election? If that is the case, they do not deserve the American people’s vote.
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