It’s Day 34 of the government shutdown (today is January 25th, 2019). With the shutdown comes 800,000 unpaid workers, hundreds of closed national services and agencies closed (think FDA, EPA, etc.). An American government shutdown occurs when Congress can’t decide on appropriating funds for the next fiscal year.
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Trump’s plan for the US-Mexican border wall by now since he’s been promising to make this happen since his presidential candidacy in 2015. Unable to get Mexico to pay for the wall, Trump is now demanding the government $5.7 billion for it (imagine all the things we could do with $5.7 billion–like improve hospitals or education systems instead of bordering on human rights violations).
According to Trump, Mexicans crossing the border are “bringing drugs”, “bringing crime”, and are “rapists”. The President claims they have criminal intent, but U.S. and UN law makers are categorizing them as asylum seekers. Trump’s uses this (very racist) idea to justify the fact that thousands of children and their parents are being kept in conditions with “a policy of enforced hunger, enforced dehydration, and enforced sleeplessness coupled with routine insults and physical assault” (Peter Schey). Tear gas was also used on a caravan with children and families that arrived in November. Two children have died so far.
So far the only “action” we’re seeing is Trump tweeting blames towards the Democrats, so it doesn’t seem to look hopeful for the American government. The Democrats are standing firmly against funding for the wall and Trump is threatening to extend the government shutdown for months, even years to get what he wants.
Yikes.