The porous southern border of the United States needs a wall. America voted for the wall when the nominated and eventually elected President Trump. the GOP has failed to deliver on funding for the wall in its two years in power, which leaves it up to the Democrats to fund it… which they won’t.

It’s the GOP’s fault, of course:

Rush Limbaugh understands this very well. He knows why the Democrats won’t allow it to be built: because it would work. They don’t want to slow illegal immigration. They don’t want to prevent migrant caravans from making the trek to our borders. They don’t want to be a sovereign nation.

“You put up a 30-foot concrete wall or whatever it is, and I’ll guarantee you illegal immigration in the southern border of the United States is brought to a screeching halt. That’s why the Democrats are never gonna go for it!”

Next year’s Congress is going to look very different from the one that is finishing up now. Democrats will be in control of the House of Representatives, and while the Senate will be more Republican, they’ll be useless to get much done with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

Many are pointing fingers at Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer for not wanting to fund the border wall. President Trump has asked for $5 billion in DHS funding, but the Democrats say they won’t give him the votes. As a result, the President says he will force a partial shutdown of the government.

In the midst of the holiday season, it’s hard to imagine the President following through with his threats. He could have. He’s had opportunities in the past to do so, but he has relented even while threatening to shut it down next time. Meanwhile, he and the Republicans are trying to lay blame on the Democrats for blocking the wall.

Here’s the thing, and I’ll refer to Shannon Joy’s Tweet to explain why the Republicans, not the Democrats, should be ashamed of their failure to fund the wall.

Actually…
Trump is President.
GOP Controls the Senate.
GOP Controls the House.
GOP Controls 33 Governorships.
GOP Controls 56% State Legislatures.
After 705 days,19 hours,16 minutes & 30 seconds of GOP POWER …
I think @realDonaldTrump & GOP should hang their heads in shame. https://t.co/hNB24Mm40o

— The Shannon Joy Show (@ShannonJoyRadio) December 14, 2018

The problem of illegal immigration should be well on its way down the road of multiple solutions being enacted at once to dramatically reduce the flow. The wall should be trucking along in a way that’s noticeable; it shouldn’t require the President trying to convince people that there’s been progress on fixing walls here and building partial walls there. We should see it. We should feel it. Illegal immigration should be dropping.

Instead, it’s rising.

I’ve bit my tongue for too long on this issue, deferring to some of our immigration experts to write on the topic. But this is becoming ridiculous. Illegal immigration has been on the rise lately and thousands of migrants from the various caravans are already finding their way across the border.

Now, a child has died.

I don’t blame the border patrol and anyone who does is missing the point. They are overwhelmed right now. With no wall and limited funding to defend the border, it’s way too easy for parents to think they’re doing the right thing by bypassing the amnesty they’re being offered in Mexico with hopes of getting better opportunity in America. I’m not suggesting the father isn’t to blame; in fact, he should be charged for putting his daughter in this situation to begin with. But it’s the failure of the GOP to use the power the people gave them that compelled these migrants to make the journey. After two years of control, the message should have been sent that we take our border security seriously. Instead they’ve learned something different.

The message has been the even with control, the GOP is feckless. The Democratic minority is more powerful than the Republican majority when it comes to border security.

President Trump deserves some blame, but it’s really his ignorance and inexperience at play instead of motivation. He was definitely motivated to build his glorious wall for the world to see, but he was conned by multiple “allies” into thinking they would get there in time. They stalled him in 2017 by claiming they could get Obamacare repealed and tax cuts done. Then, the stalled him in 2018 saying it wasn’t the right time to do battle before the midterms. Now, there’s no wall funding and no more time to get it.

The GOP is working harder on building a narrative than building a wall. We’re stuck between a damaging shutdown that may still not get the wall funded or no wall at all. Republicans and Independents voted for it, but the GOP failed to deliver.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — A 7-year-old girl who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border with her father last week died after being taken into the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol, federal immigration authorities confirmed Thursday.

The Washington Post reports the girl died of dehydration and shock more than eight hours after she was arrested by agents near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The girl was from Guatemala and was traveling with a group of 163 people who approached agents to turn themselves in on Dec. 6.

It’s unknown what happened to the girl during the eight hours before she started having seizures and was flown to an El Paso hospital.

In a statement, Customs and Border Protection said the girl had not eaten or consumed water in several days.

The agency did not provide The Associated Press with the statement it gave to the Post, despite repeated requests.

Processing 163 immigrants in one night could have posed challenges for the agency, whose detention facilities are meant to be temporary and don’t usually fit that many people.

When a Border Patrol agent arrests someone, that person gets processed at a facility but usually spends no more than 72 hours in custody before they are either transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or, if they’re Mexican, quickly deported home.

The girl’s death raises questions about whether border agents knew she was ill and whether she was fed anything or given anything to drink during the eight-plus hours she was in custody.

Immigrants, attorneys and activists have long raised issues with the conditions of Border Patrol holding cells. In Tucson, an ongoing lawsuit claims holding cells are filthy, extremely cold and lacking basic necessities such as blankets. A judge overseeing that lawsuit has ordered the agency’s Tucson Sector, which patrols much of the Arizona-Mexico border, to provide blankets and mats to sleep on and to continually turn over surveillance footage from inside the cells.

The Border Patrol has seen an increasing trend of large groups of immigrants, many with young children, walking up to agents and turning themselves in. Most are Central American and say they are fleeing violence. They turn themselves in instead of trying to circumvent authorities, many with plans to apply for asylum.

Agents in Arizona see groups of over 100 people on a regular basis, sometimes including infants and toddlers.

Arresting such groups poses logistical problems for agents who have to wait on transport vans that are equipped with baby seats to take them to processing facilities, some which are at least half hour north of the border.

The death of the 7-year-old comes after a toddler died in May just after being released from an ICE family detention facility in Texas, and as the administration of Donald Trump attempts to ban people from asking for asylum if they crossed the border illegally. A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked that ban, but the administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate it Tuesday.

Cynthia Pompa, advocacy manager for the ACLU Border Rights Center, said migrant deaths increased last year even as the number of border crossing dropped.

“This tragedy represents the worst possible outcome when people, including children, are held in inhumane conditions. Lack of accountability, and a culture of cruelty within CBP have exacerbated policies that lead to migrant deaths,” Pompa said.