Donald Trump makes case for border wall in prime-time Oval Office speech
President Donald Trump has made a prime-time appeal to US citizens in an attempt to convince them of the humanitarian and security crisis on the southern border with Mexico.
In his address, delivered in an uncharacteristically measured tone, Trump said there was a “growing humanitarian and security crisis” at the US-Mexico border.
The president, who repeated his demand for $5.7 billion (5 billion euros) in funding for a border wall, said he was urging Democrats to return to the White House to meet with him, saying it was “immoral” for “politicians to do nothing.”
However, the president stopped short of declaring a national emergency, which could have led to the project being funded by bypassing Congress.
Observers see the president’s first Oval Office address as an attempt to sway public opinion and pin blame for the ongoing partial government shutdown on his political opponents, the Democrats.
Trump made the speech on the 18th day of a shutdown over funding for his most famous campaign promise, the wall on the border between the US and Mexico.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted immediately, saying the president should stop holding the country “hostage.”
Thus far, some 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed or forced to work without
pay as a result of the standoff. Many millions more could soon be affected due to lack of funding for food programs and public housing.
Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, claimed recently he could relate to those going without pay and unable to buy groceries or make rent and utilities payments, but said they will have to “make adjustments.”
Read more: Trump administration downgrades EU mission to
US
No end in sight
The country’s national parks and judicial system have also been thrown into chaos over the fight, which shows no signs of abating. Trump has in recent days said that the shutdown could go on “for years.”
The president has specifically tried to paint Democrats as the belligerent party, labeling them as obstructionists. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who recently goaded Trump into admitting he would be “proud to own the shutdown” in front of cameras, will offer a rebuttal to Trump’s remarks directly after his speech.
Both Democrat leaders have insisted that Trump forget the issue of the wall for now and reopen the government instead. Although Democrats have said they would be willing to give the president $1.6 billion (€1.4 billion) for border security, he has insisted he will accept nothing less than the $5 billion he is asking for, even going so far as to demand $5.7 billion in recent days.
Read more: Trump will be impeached in 2019, says ‘prediction professor’
A self-made crisis?
The administration has claimed the situation at the US-Mexico border has reached a crisis point, but opponents say this is not the case, and that the worsening situation is the result of Trump’s shutdown tactics.
The president’s remarks were also aimed at another group of viewers. Increasingly, Republicans are concerned about the long-term political ramifications of the fight on their own popularity, and by extension their re-election chances in 2020.
Read more: 2018: The year Trumpian disruption rocked German politics
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
Sundown shutdown
As midnight approaches on September 30 of each year, it’s go time for Congress: approve a budget or shut down government operations. Originally, Article I, Section 9 of the constitution required lawmakers to approve the budget. Honing it further in 1870, the Anti-Deficiency Act targeted agencies that spent money without asking. But meeting deadlines was a chronic problem. That is, until the 1980s.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
No money, no pay, no work
At the behest of President Jimmy Carter, the US attorney general revisited the Antideficiency Act in 1980 to answer the question: “Without a budget, are government employees required to work?” According to Benjamin Civiletti’s legal opinion, no money meant no work. Carter’s presidency saw only small shutdowns, but the new interpretation of the law turned shutdowns into a negotiating tactic.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
Ronald Reagan and the first shutdown
The first real shutdown – over 240,000 workers furloughed, more than $80 million (€65 million) down the drain – occurred in November 1981. Still in his early days, President Reagan refused to sign a budget without billions in tax cuts. The Republican-controlled Senate and the Democrat-controlled House found a solution by the next day. This happened seven more times by his last year in 1989.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
Bill Clinton and the rise of the partisan shutdown
Budget impasses were largely drama-free until 1995, when President Clinton faced off against Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker New Gingrich (pictured left). The Republican-led Congress wanted a balanced budget within seven years, higher Medicare premiums and rollbacks on environment regulations. It took 27 days in total to strike a deal. The cost: at least $1 billion.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
A game for Congress, a headache for the agencies
Many departments such as the military, national security and any deemed essential to the protection of life, continue working during shutdowns. But agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Food and Drug Administration and the Center for Disease Prevention must cease operations. This results in delays on tax decisions, food inspection and disease research, among other problems.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
Barack Obama and Congress on Cruz-control
The next major shutdown came in 2013 under President Obama. His Affordable Health Care Act – or Obamacare – faced stark opposition from conservative House Republicans. Led by Senator Ted Cruz, the group pushed for drastic curbs on the healthcare act in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. The 18-day shutdown resulted in the furlough of some 850,000 workers. The cost: $24 billion.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
A shutdown lasting years?
The latest shutdown, which started in December, is already the second-longest in history. Hundreds of federal workers are going without pay. Despite the disruption, US President Donald Trump has refused to budge on his insistence that funding for the Mexico border wall be included in the budget. In fact, the president has said he is prepared for the impasse to go on for years.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
The cost of playing politics
The prohibitive cost of shutting down some government operations has not tamed the trend. Washington loses millions not just in revenue, but also in back pay, even though furloughed employees stay at home. So, time lost, work lost – and money lost. According to Standard and Poor’s, the current rate for a shutdown will cost the US roughly $6 billion per week in 2018.
-
US government shutdowns: A chronology
Shutdowns contributing to distrust of Washington?
But the biggest loser is not the economy, or the party that makes the most concessions. Arguably, it is the government itself. According to a Gallup poll in the aftermath of the 2013 shutdown, public dissatisfaction with the government in general rose to 33 percent. The previous all-time high regarding political dysfunction was 26 percent during the Watergate scandal.
Unfounded claims
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said her agency had encountered more than 3,000 suspected terrorists trying to enter the United States at the southern border, a claim for which she offered no evidence. Nevertheless, Trump administration spokespersons have regularly repeated such claims in an effort to convince citizens of the urgency of a border wall.
The border has been the scene of a number of incidents in which US authorities have fired tear gas into crowds of immigrants on the Mexican side of the existing border fence. Two children have also died in border patrol custody.
Illegal crossings dropped to less than 400,000 last year, from 1.6 million in 2000, yet asylum and immigration processing delays have caused huge backups at the border creating serious problems for those attempting to enter the US. Critics also point out that many of those who are in the country illegally are not there because they entered illegally, but rather because they overstayed their visas.
Read more: Opinion: Trump uses old tricks in shutdown talks with new Congress
Resists urge to declare emergency
Although Trump has in recent days floated the idea of declaring a national emergency to let him move ahead with his plan, he refrained from doing so in the Oval Office address on Tuesday.
Critics have called the president’s insistence upon a wall an obsession driven by ego and racist tendencies, but he and his administration maintain he is simply concerned with protecting American citizens.
Read more: Can Trump use force against the ‘migrant caravan’?
Run for the border
Though Trump has sought to sell his new proposal to build the wall of steel slats rather than concrete as a concession to Democrats, lawmakers say they are opposed because they see the wall as immoral and ineffective.
Democrats have called the wall a grossly outdated solution to a 21st century problem, and insist border security can be improved by hiring more border agents and improving technology.
On Wednesday, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, before the president heads south to visit the border on Thursday.
Read more: ‘Migrant caravan was my only chance’ for a better life
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
The wall exists
The border between the US and Mexico spans about 1,900 miles, of which nearly 700 miles are currently covered by walls and fences. Tijuana is the largest city in Baja California, one of the six Mexican states with a border to the US.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Sweeping views
The residents of this house near the US-Mexico border fence enjoy a wider view of the scrublands in the US state of California.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Trump critic
Mexican architect Carlos Torres, 68, has been living in his house near the fence for three decades. He said the proposed wall will not be able to halt immigration. “Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Here at this fence, people keep crossing every week,” Torres explained.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Treehouse
Guatemalan chef Joaquin, 36, builds a bed in a tree, near a section of the border fence. He said he was deported from the United States. At night from his bed, Joaquin tries to look into the heavens through the leaves. “I’ve tried to cross so many times that the border guards even got to know me, but I never made it back,” he said.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Flagship project
A house stands near the US-Mexico fence on the outskirts of Tijuana. Last month, the US authorities posted a call for proposals to expand existing walls along the Mexican border. The US president Donald Trump talked about building a wall several times during his election campaign. This project is being seen as Trump’s flagship anti-immigration project.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Eye-watering costs
The roof of a house made with an advertisement banner is seen next to the fence, extension of which may cost between $12 billion (11.3 billion euros) and $15 billion.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Not easy to cross
This shack standing next to the US-Mexico fence may look as if it can be climbed easily, but the proposed wall is going to be harder to cross. Because according to the tender, the wall should not be scalable, even using sophisticated climbing aids, and should be sunk at least six feet into the ground to avoid tunneling.
-
Life in the shadow of the wall
Two different kinds of wall
A girl runs outside her home near the US-Mexico fence, which was made of corrugated metal. However, the proposed wall will be of two different kinds of material – solid concrete and a transparent one.
js/rt (AP, Reuters)
Article source: http://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-makes-case-for-border-wall-in-prime-time-oval-office-speech/a-47001925?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf