Donald Trump and cohorts are screaming that there is a crisis on the border. They use the word “crisis” as the cornerstone of their call for The Wall. Trump and cohorts understand that telling the American people that The Wall is about keeping brown people out of the country, most Americans would be outraged, thus the “crisis.” Even with the false narrative of a crisis on the border, most Americans oppose The Wall. That has been established. But, in his quest to keep America from becoming too brown, Trump has created a real crisis.
The “border crisis” rhetoric is about keeping Americans safe. Yet, the real danger to Americans continues to lie within the homegrown terrorists and the terrorists who fly into America. Now, unfortunately for Americans and immigrant alike, Donald Trump has created a real crisis for America through his government shutdown.
What? What crisis, the Trump supporters are asking.
Let’s start with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The TSA was created precisely because of the dangers of terrorists. They are tasked with safeguarding the airways, along with other transportation systems. But the TSA employees are currently working without pay. Several airports are dealing with excessive absences leading to closed lanes. Even the TSA employees who are working are likely distracted by concerns over their pending bills.
In other words, a terrorist has a much better opportunity to get by a tired/concerned TSA agent, now that Trump has withheld their paychecks.
That is dangerous for America.
As if the TSA danger is not enough, the Coast Guard is dealing with members stressed over the needs of their families. The Coast Guard commandant went so far as to post a video about his outrage that the Coast Guard is now the first U.S. military branch to be working without paychecks.
The primary security mission of the Coast Guard is to secure America from dangerous drugs. As unpaid bills mount, the drug traffickers are taking advantage of distracted personnel thinking about their bills and diminished mission capacities due to lack of operating funds.
Americans are endangered by a diminished Coast Guard allowing more drugs into the country.
Unfortunately, it continues to get worse. The FBI is concerned that their ability to investigate and solve crimes is severely diminished due to the impact of the government shutdown. The FBI is the leader in identifying and stopping terrorists intent on hurting Americans.
Once the terrorists get past the TSA, all they have to do is get past an FBI that is hampered by the lack of resources. America is endangered even more.
Oh, but it gets worse. Homeland Security, who oversees border security, is also facing staffing issues and reduced capability because of worried employees without paychecks. So, while Donald Trump and cohorts urge Americans to believe that there is a “crisis” on the border, Trump himself is creating a crisis on the border because of the government shutdown he instigated.
But we are not done yet.
There are specific regulations and laws that govern how immigrants are treated within America, even the undocumented ones. Right now, immigration judges are furloughed meaning that many immigration asylum cases are not being adjudicated in a timely fashion. This forces the American government to release the immigrants into the community pending a court hearing once the immigration judges are back at work.
That means many undocumented immigrants are being released into America without the proper judicial processes designed to keep America safe.
Just in case you are not scared yet, add to the turmoil the Air Traffic Controllers who are calling in sick because of lack of paychecks. It is only a matter of time before a serious airline accident happens as the air traffic system faces unprecedented danger to its system.
Clearly there is a crisis in America. It has nothing to do with The Wall and everything to do with Donald Trump.
