A member of the Central American migrant caravan, holding a child, looks through the border wall toward a group of people gathered on the U.S. side, as he stands on the beach where the border wall ends in the ocean, in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, April 29, 2018. U.S. immigration lawyers are telling Central Americans in a caravan of asylum-seekers that traveled through Mexico to the border with San Diego that they face possible separation from their children and detention for many months. They say they want to prepare them for the worst possible outcome.
A member of the Central American migrant caravan, holding a child, looks through the border wall toward a group of people gathered on the U.S. side, as he stands on the beach where the border wall ends in the ocean, in Tijuana, Mexico, Sunday, April 29, 2018. U.S. immigration lawyers are telling Central Americans in a caravan of asylum-seekers that traveled through Mexico to the border with San Diego that they face possible separation from their children and detention for many months. They say they want to prepare them for the worst possible outcome. Credit: AP Photo/Hans-Maximo Musielik

A​​​​​ccording to a recent news article, President Trump on Saturday, in reference to the partial federal government shutdown, blamed Democrats and “their pathetic immigration policies” for “any deaths of children or others” in U.S. custody at the border.

To be clear, the shutdown was called for by President Trump as leverage to force American taxpayers to pay for a border wall which he has declared numerous times — as Candidate Trump and President Trump — would be paid for by Mexico. However, it’s now President Trump’s position that Democrats who actually agree with him, that Americans should not foot the bill for his wall, are wrong.

Instead of falsely blaming Democrats for border incidents wholly unrelated to the lack or presence of border walls or fences, President Trump should be thanking the very Democrats he vilifies for holding him accountable to his promise on how his wall would be paid for. Instead, he, through the power vested in him as leader of the free world, now seeks to force Americans to pay for his wall “… the hard way, with a Shutdown.”

Senate Democrats should hold the line on refusing to sell out American taxpayers by approving any budget that contains money earmarked for President Trump’s wall.

David A. Gardner
Easthampton