With only four days to go until the foreseen DHS shutdown, both parties are ardently arguing their stance on proposed DHS funding standards. Republicans demand that the bill include provisions to block President Obama from enacting immigration reform, and do not seem to be backing down, sure that the Democrats will break first. Democrats, however, are not opposed to this kind of idea, but with the agreement that they will not allow any immigration measures to be passed by Obama, say that this issue should be dealt with after the immediate DHS matter is resolved.
One very important piece to remember, is the effect that the last government shutdown had on the country and the workers that were affected. If the DHS remains unfunded, an expected 75-80% of workers will be forced to go without pay. Those deemed "nonessential" will be furloughed until an agreement is made, while those necessary will continue to work unpaid. In the previous shutdown, many workers(and those in training) simply traded in their training from the government to find a job with those skills. While I understand that Republicans want to hold strong on their position against Obama, I don't think that depriving workers both in Washington D.C. and their home states would be too keen on not getting paid until that matter is resolved. It is not fair to deprive people unrelated to an executive action's source, and expect them to be okay with it.
Questions:
-Should the immigration provisions be taken out to be dealt with at a later date and allow the DHS funding bill to pass, or is this a necessary obstacle to deal with at the present moment?
-If the negotiations don't work and the deadline passes, what should be the immediate follow up, as current arguments would be proved to not work?
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