With another migrant caravan reaching the United States – Mexico border and the United States government working through its longest partial shutdown in history, the question of border security still hangs in the air.  October of last year marked the beginning of more serious concern when the previous migrant caravan reached the Mexico – Guatemala border. The concern arose when the primarily Honduran caravan fought their way through the border into Mexico.  Following the caravan conflict, President Trump has decided to follow up on his campaign promise to construct a wall across the nation’s southern border.

When the partial government shutdown started December 22, President Trump began to enact his plan to force the hands of the Democrats to approve funding for his proposed border wall.   While the government is still partially shut down, Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both maintain that they refuse to approve any proposition giving President Trump the funding for the border wall.  President Trump agrees to provide 3 years of protection for current illegal immigrants, while reopening the government, if funding for a steel barrier along the southern border is approved.

President Trump’s new plan, to be voted for by Congress this week, promotes immigration reform proposed by both the Democrats and Republicans.  In 2006, 90 Democrats voted in support of 700 miles of fencing to be constructed across the southern border. In 2013, every Senate Democrat voted for an additional 700 miles of fencing.  Former President Bill Clinton signed off on Operations Gatekeeper, Safeguard, and Hold the Line which authorized the construction of the wall between Arizona, Texas, and California. The end goal seems to be finding bipartisan approval for immigration reform, but only time can tell how much longer the debate will go.