There really needs to be more attempt to reach across and make an agreement. Can Trump agree to spend $1 billion worth of wall for now, or $2 billion, kick the decision on the rest into 2021, and in return get support from enough other politicians (including democrats) to make it pass.
Last February, the Democrats offered to approve over 23 billion dollars for trump's wall in exchange for a deal for the Dreamers. trump said he wouldn't agree to that.
After the midterm election in November, the Democrats offered somewhere in excess of one billion dollars (I think it was $1.3 billion), no strings attached, just to keep the government open. trump refused that.
I think it's unhelpful for the democrats to call the wall "immoral". A country has a right to build a border wall or fence if they want to.
Nothing immoral about the Berlin wall, eh?
What's immoral about it is that the "Build the wall!" rhetoric is that it's a clear rallying cry to the racist base - keep those brown people out. The Canadian/U.S. border is extremely porous. Just again within the last week or so, a huge drug shipment was confiscated there, yet no one is worried about building a wall there. I wonder why....
What's immoral about building a wall is the devastation to wildlife and the environment. The first part of the wall, if funded, will be built through a wildlife sanctuary that's on federally owned land. It will destroy the sanctuary, which is home to multiple endangered species, at least one of which is expected to become extinct almost immediately. The wall will disrupt migratory paths for many species, deny animals access to rivers, which they rely upon for drinking water, etc. The list of negative impacts on wildlife goes on and on.
What's immoral about the wall is that it will bisect Native lands, ranches, historic sites, etc. Tens of thousands of acres will be on the "wrong" side of the wall.
And guess what? If the wall as contemplated by trump is built, it will cover only half of the U.S./Mexico border, because the terrain in many places is simply not conducive to wall building. Actual construction cost estimates are in excess of $50 billion. So, all that money spent, all that disruption, all those animal deaths - for a wall that does nothing. Do you call that moral?
If the democrats were smarter maybe they could have got some concessions on other issues in return. Not that I favor that kind of strategic deal making, but....just saying.
See the first part of my answer.
Now the democrats have dug in so deep though it's hard to see a way out. If they cave now, it's a bad precedent.
trump has been talking for a long time about wanting a shutdown, that shutdowns are "easy." Would you like me to provide you with links to videos of trump saying these things?
In some other countries, mainly in Europe and Asia, a situation like this might be resolved by a public vote, i.e. a referendum. In the US, that is never even considered as a possibility (I know there is no legal framework for it).
This is accurate.
