Nineteen days of the 2019 government shutdown dreadfully goes on. Congress continues to be at an impasse with President Trump after he requested $25 billion dollars. According to ThoughtCo, “Under the Antideficiency Act of 1982, the federal government must ‘shutdown’ the affected agencies by both furloughing non-essential personnel and curtailing agency activities and services that do not directly relate to national security.” Employees are starting to feel the stress of the lack of payment, having to delve deeper and deeper into their savings accounts each day. Meanwhile, President Trump walks out of border security meetings because his pitch to build a wall was rejected.

Let’s go back to where this catastrophe took root. According to Politico, President Trump stated, “‘When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,’…Because of that, he promised voters that he will ‘build a great wall’ and ‘will have Mexico pay for that wall.’” He proposed the idea in an attempt to block the so-called “drugs”, “crimes”, and “rapists” that Mexicans allegedly brought with them. Many people, like Bonnie Kristian, looked upon this in a contemptuous manner and began to pick his claim apart. She stated in her article on The Week, “The thing about having a nearly 2,000-mile border, much of it running through uninhabited desert, is there’s a whole lot of space to test ingenious new ways to overcome even the most beautiful of fences.” She goes on to disprove his statements about immigrants, as have many others.

Some disagree, however, standing with President Trump. They claim that building a wall will stop crime and lower illegal immigration, making a safer environment for native-born Americans. On the contrary, a large amount of people stand firm in the idea that diversity is a good thing for America, and that other people, especially those seeking asylum, deserve to be in a place that makes them feel as safe as it makes native-born citizens feel.