During the shutdown, Trump offered to extend additional protections to DACA recipients; this would’ve occurred in exchange for border wall funding and reopening government.
Of course, the Democrats shot down the offer.
Finally, Trump temporarily reopened government and then gave Congress two weeks to come up with proper border wall funding. The capital needed to fund his promised border wall amounted to roughly $5.7 billion dollars. However, when the clock to keep government open ran out, Congress could only agree upon a bill with $1.375 billion dollars.
In order to avoid yet another government shutdown, Trump signed the Congressional legislation. He then declared a national emergency at the Southern border and moved to build the wall. Over the course of 2019, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials have spoken out about the plight of illegal immigration at the Southern border.
Towards the end of March, CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan affirmed that Border Patrol is reaching their “breaking point.”
