Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are dead wrong in shutting down the government over $5 billion for building a wall. Literally, dead wrong. The family of California police officer Ronil Singh will never celebrate another Christmas with this officer who was murdered on Dec. 26 by an illegal alien. Sad and preventable. 

The Department of Homeland Security has identified over 600 convicted criminals in the latest illegal immigrant “caravan” that was stopped in Tijuana. Over 100,000 crimes were committed last year in the U.S. by illegal immigrants.

What self-serving Democrats are willfully ignorant about is that human trafficking makes up a large part of illegal border crossings. I have a friend — who is not a Republican — and lives 11 miles from the Mexican border. His farm is continually overrun by illegals. From first hand experience he will tell you about the role drug smugglers play in the illegal border crossings.  Young women and children are at the mercy of cartels that are paid to smuggle them.

The US Department of Homeland Security just issued an incredible statement using the word “ignorance” to describe the way the new Democratic leadership refuses to learn any facts about what is happening at the border, and the need for a wall. $5 billion would not build a complete wall, but it would funnel border crossers to areas where they could be more easily apprehended.

Our country is suffering widespread opioid addiction and overdose deaths at an alarming rate.  Seventy thousand Americans died from drug overdoses last year. Illegal drugs pour over the southern border. Ninety percent of heroin and 80 percent of fentanyl comes into this country from Mexico.

That the Democratic leadership would ignore the real and continuing harm being done to this country because of their hatred for Trump is petty and foolish. Notice the way that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi phrase the wall issue: “Trump is not getting HIS wall.” This is personal for them. They are eager and willing to let harm befall the country rather than give Trump a “victory.”

Eben Henson

Danville