This past holiday season, many workers were sent home to spend time with their loved ones and celebrate the Christmas season and they would go back to work after the holiday. Many, however, did not return to work.
The shutdown began on December 22nd of 2018 and the reason being the immigration policy that the current president of the United States wants to put into fruition.
“We’re going to stay out for a long time if we have to. We’ll be out for a long time.” – President Donald J. Trump
Federal workers are not getting paid and were being asked to work for free or they would risk losing their jobs; families that need the government for welfare and food stamps among many other things are not getting anything in compensation. There are so many people who cannot get food, water, or even the medications they need to survive throughout their days. People can’t even pay bills.
A full video can be watched here by Now This for more information on who exactly is being affected and why.
This is the longest government shutdown in U.S history, affecting more Americans every day as each hour passes by that the government remains shut down. There are many people who truly need the government to function properly in order to survive, but to President Trump, it’s more important to build a wall. Some citizens who voted for Trump are now saying that they regret their decision, with seeing the reaction of the shutdown. Celebrities like Cardi B have also spoken out about the shutdown, voicing concerns about the well-being of the country. Tomi Lahren replied, calling Cardi out on Twitter, saying she was unfit to speak about the situation.
As of right now, the government shut down is on a pause, until February 15th, 2019; put in effect this past January 25th, 2019 – after the shut down began in the first place. USA today said, “The $5.7 billion Trump requested to construct a wall along the southern border isn’t going away. The president is giving lawmakers three weeks to come to some sort of compromise on border security.” The deal with the wall is important as Trump has also said that he will put the country in a National state of Emergency if his wall does not get built. This is very dangerous for a huge amount of people, as it will affect so many things from jobs to travel within and outside of the United States. Border Patrol has already been seen to be unnecesarily violent towards immigrants.