The nation’s latest government shutdown started on December 22 and continued for 35 days before being temporarily halted for three weeks. Initiated by President Trump, it began due to his disagreement with Congress about the construction of a wall along the southern United States border and has become the longest in U.S. history, beating President Clinton’s previous 21 day record.
Trump’s actions come at a time where the nation is more divided than ever and the idea of the wall serves as a literal and figurative separation between Americans and immigrants.
America is reverting back to an age of isolation that has not been seen since the 1930s when the Great Depression took place. It makes everyone wonder what the phrase “Make America Great Again” really means.
Immigration is in the core of what makes America “the land of opportunity,” a place built by people of diverse backgrounds.
Security is also important to the American experience. Ever since the tragic events of September 11, we have been wary of outsiders coming into our country, but instead of fixing the complex and outdated immigration process, we have shifted our focus on creating a divisive barrier.
And so, the chasm that separates people based on political party, race, and belief widens as each day goes by.
Part of the debate circulating around the wall has to do with those under the protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Trump tried to bargain with the future of more than 800,000 DACA recipients. In exchange for the wall, Trump proposed to protect those under DACA and Temporary Protection Status (TPS) from deportation.
The humanity of those individuals is being stripped as they are being used as pawns on a political chessboard. The intolerance for immigrants increases as our country sees those in positions of power push the idea that immigrants come to this country with bad intentions.
People created a GoFundMe account to fund the wall, and although it was a scam, the number of people interested showed just how much people feel empowered by the anti-immigrant sentiment of the president.
Many Twitter users voiced their inclination toward the barrier by echoing Trump’s words, “build a wall and crime will fall!”
In reality, illegal immigration does not have a direct correlation with crime rates rising.
On January 25, Trump decided to lift the shutdown until February 15th, which would mean that the government would be funded for three weeks before it would ultimately be shut down again.
The shutdown is not only affecting the economy of the country but also affecting our society. Unity is embedded in the very name of this country, and yet, we cannot seem to come to a point of solidarity.
The Escape Vision 