U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky condemns Trump’s call for border wall

Carlos Barria/Getty Images/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS

President Donald Trump speaks to the nation Tuesday night in a prime-time address from the Oval Office of the White House. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky criticized his speech.

Catherine Henderson, City Editor

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) declared, “enough is enough,” in a news release Tuesday night in response to President Donald Trump’s televised speech for his border wall.

In his address, Trump called the situation at the southern border “a humanitarian and security crisis” to justify his call for a wall. He also blamed Democrats for the government shutdown, which entered its third week today.

“This barrier is absolutely critical to border security,” Trump said. “This is just common sense. The border wall would very quickly pay for itself.”

Schakowsky quickly released her response, calling the wall “misguided, racist and wasteful.” She said Trump “is not telling the truth,” arguing the barrier will cost more than Trump suggests and interfere with private and environmentally-protected territory.

As a result of the shutdown, Schakowsky said food stamps and other government programs are running out of funding; more than 800,000 federal employees are furloughed.

“What began as a campaign gimmick designed to fire up white nationalist crowds, has morphed into a giant poison pill that is impacting the lives of millions of Americans,” Schakowsky said. “The wall is a fantasy built on bad intentions. My constituents and the vast majority of Americans reject this wall and so do I.”

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