The federal government  shutdown on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018, due to President Donald Trump’s belief that a 55 foot wall should be built on the United States-Mexico border to end illegal immigration into America. Although intended to convince Congress to fund this wall, the shutdown seems a punishment to American citizens for not being in agreement with Trump. The government shutdown ended on Friday, Jan 25, 2019 but could possibly be shut down again in about three weeks.

Trump shut down the government to obtain 5.6 billion dollars to pay for the southern-border wall. Democrats do not agree with the President’s belief in the necessity of the wall and refuse to pass the bill. This subsequently pushed Trump to threaten an emergency order and, soon after, shut down the federal government.

“President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis, and must reopen the government,” Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said.

Trump believes he has extensive support for the southern-border wall, but, according to USA Today, less than 25 percent of Republicans in Congress want the funding for the wall.

“At the end of the day, our borders will still be insecure,” Republican Senator Bob Corker said. “The President could have received $25 billion [in funding] in dealing with the DREAMers. Most Republicans want to deal with the DREAMers. This is a made-up fight so the President can look like he is fighting. Even if he wins, our borders won’t be secure.”

Many students are against the wall.

“My mom works in the federal court, and because they’re considered essential, they have to go to work but not get paid,” sophomore Jane Landrum said. “Some people don’t have savings, and work paychecks, so they’re really affected by the shutdown.”

There are many reasons why the government shutdown should end. First of all, the majority of the country does not believe the wall should be built. Therefore, Trump is punishing Americans for having views and opinions that differ from his own. To many, this largely reflects a dictatorial leader. However, there are some who think that granting Trump the funding for the wall is the best solution to this problem; Trump refuses to reopen the federal government without this funding.

As of Jan 13, the government had been shutdown for 23 days. This means that many government employees have gone without a paycheck for 23 days. This is especially harmful to National Park Service employees, considering the government shutdown occurred in the middle of the Holiday Season — a popular time for people to visit National Parks and Historic Sites, including the Central High National Historic Site.

“I’m sure that the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustments. They always do,” Trump said. “But many of those people that won’t be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100 percent with what I’m doing.”

One furloughed employee expresses frustration on how this situation is impacting his family and co-workers and their families.

“The uncertainty of how long things will last causes quite a bit of stress and worry,” said one park ranger on behalf of the agency.

The government shutdown is causing great disparity in our nation and should come to an end as soon as possible.

Information for this article is from the Washington Post and Independent.