The immigration controversy in America is taking a huge toll on our government. President Trump has shut down several agencies in an effort to force Democrats to work with him and to fund a wall that is supposed to prevent more illegal immigrants from entering the US.

Many Americans including the author of this essay are befuddled why the objective of stopping illegal immigration isn’t a noble cause. Why would Americans want the number of people living illegally in our country to increase any further?

It would be another story if this group of interlopers were meeting some sort of important need, or providing the US with a way to increase population in the face of lower birth rates. Rather, immigrants from the south, for the most part, are entering the country with no prospects of employment, without a place to live and creating financial chaos educationally and medically. Some analysts estimate that the net effect of 15+ million illegals is costing taxpayers about $125 billion per annum.

This money is being redirected from legitimate needs of American citizens and creating great strains on neighborhoods across the country.

How can we manage the affairs of our country with porous borders that allow undocumented people to enter the country with no barriers? Many of these individuals are destitute and are accompanied by minors, which serves to exacerbate an already terrible problem. Many claim that they seek asylum from some sort of persecution. The US has a process for this type of immigrant, which being ignored.

It’s heartbreaking to see that so many who want entry into the US are suffering, are hungry, are homeless. The world is a cruel place. But the US cannot be a repository for all those that are less fortunate than we are. It should be noted that many western countries are trying, just as unsuccessfully as the US, to help needy people.

Liberals, in their altruistic zeal, want to help the masses of people that are continuously entering our country illegally. This puzzles many Americans and has created a great divide. In fact some cities and states are breaking the law by setting up “sanctuaries” to shield illegals from our own immigration officials. These faux do-gooders have spurned the very people that protect their homes and provide safety against strangers who might be dangerous.

The security of our country is at stake. Grave mistakes in judgment over the past few decades have created a problem that is nearly insurmountable. Even with about 15 million illegals already ensconced among us, liberals are not willing to do what is necessary to stop the flow of more interlopers. This has occurred even though many who object to the presence of illegals in the country have agreed to allow them to stay and become citizens if they assimilate legally into our society.

The current situation is untenable. The president proposed a wall that will impede the flow of illegals into the country. It will not stop every attempt to do so. Many have criticized the wall saying it is too expensive and will not be effective. This commentary makes no sense. If illegals want to enter the country and they must scale over or dig under a 30-foot high wall, many will be unable to do so. The alternative is another 15 million illegals in the country over the next decade, which will increase the burden on taxpayers by another $100 billion each year.

Democrats and liberals have not proposed an alternative strategy to the wall. Trump is the only president in history that has directly addressed the proliferation of illegal immigrants. It’s a very difficult problem. The status quo is going to make the situation direr.

The current tab for construction is $5 billion (out of a multi-trillion dollar budget). Why not let Trump have his wall? It’s a relatively small price that may stem the tide of immigrants into the US.

Resources for the needy are limited and are becoming sparser every year. Why spend more on non-citizens Let’s move forward with the wall and see if it’s successful.