Dear Congress: Keep our government open and reject Trump’s “Border Wall Boondoggle”

Just one week after Donald Trump declared that “I am proud to shut down the government" in order to secure taxpayer funding for a racist, useless, and destructive border wall he has repeatedly claimed would be paid for by Mexico, Trump is threatening to block legislation to fund the government and provoke a government shutdown.

Trump’s demand that the government be shut down if he doesn't get his border wall boondoggle will bring uncertainty to our country, to federal workers and their families, and to communities nationwide right before the holidays -- all in service of a transparent political stunt. According to Bloomberg News, “More than 420,000 federal employees would work without pay and more than 380,000 workers would be sent home.”

It’s time for Congress to put an end to Trump’s circus and vote down any budget that includes funding for a border wall, fencing, and other militarization tactics that further a humanitarian crisis of his own making.

LEARN ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN:

NATIONAL PARKS & VISITORS AT RISK:

A government shutdown would put thousands of people out of work and deny public servants their paychecks right before the holidays.

• Uncertain plans for national parks and public lands will throw our national park service, park visitors, and the communities surrounding our public lands into chaos.

• This is a time people should be able to spend with their families in special places like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the Statue of Liberty, but all that is now up in the air.  

• Local communities are already experiencing this uncertainty. The Detroit News reports, “Under a partial shutdown, Michigan's five national parks would remain open, but most of the employees won’t be there under a contingency plan. Among the services that wouldn't be provided would be restrooms, trash collection and road maintenance.”

PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY WOULD BE SHUT DOWN:

Shutting down the government also shutters essential agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, taking watchdog officials who keep toxic pollution out of our air and water will be off the beat.

• During the 2013 shutdown, cleanup work on many of the 800 contaminated federal Superfund sites stopped.

• The same year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had to send all but about 300 of its 3,900 workers home during the shutdown, and had to cancel all emergency preparedness exercises and routine inspections of nuclear materials and waste licensees.

This full consequences are even more profound. According to the Environmental Protection Network, a group of former EPA career staff and confirmation-level appointees from multiple administrations:

“Most daily work simply comes to a grinding halt during a shutdown. A shutdown at EPA would stop:

• Most activities related to hazardous waste cleanups under the national Superfund program.

• Inspections to ensure regulated activities are being done safely and lawfully.

• Enforcement work such as case development, and administrative or court hearings.

• Pesticide registrations or approvals, even if products awaiting approval back up in ports

• Reviews or approvals for sale of toxic substances.

• Responses to Freedom of Information Act requests.

• Processing state grants and auditing how federal money is being used.

• Issuance of federal permits, although states issue many permits that would not be directly affected. ”

A USELESS, OBSCENELY EXPENSIVE BORDER WALL:

A border wall, which would cost more than $26 billion, is widely recognized as an ineffective boondoggle that would have no discernable impact on immigration along the border.

• The Government Accountability Office cannot reference a single report that proves border walls inhibit crime or increase safety.

• Despite that, communities along the border are already dealing with the damages of existing sections of wall and fencing every day.

• Ongoing damages including flooding, the cutting off of wildlife migration routes, and the tearing apart communities already decimated by this administration’s cruel and racist immigration agenda.

IT'S TIME FOR CONGRESS TO REJECT TRUMP’S BORDER WALL BOONDOGGLE AND KEEP OUR GOVERNMENT OPEN.