Shut it Down!

I was going to look it up this weekend because I'm not sure, but I think this fake shutdown has lasted longer than any of the others.  During one of the previous ones, I was in my dentist's waiting room when they had the TV on, I think it was CNN.  They said that more parts of the government than just the national parks will be shut down if this thing goes on long enough, up to and including Congress, the White House, and the federal courts.  One can only hope but, I think, before that happens, all those "essential" workers who are not being paid will walk off the job.  I know that government employees are not supposed to go on strike, but they're not supposed to work without pay either.  I read somewhere that some of them have already filed a lawsuit about that.

Last I heard, some of the Caravan people were still camped in Tijuana waiting for their turn to file requests for asylum.  The ones that have already filed are waiting in the US for their hearings to come up.  The detention facilities are full and the government agents have reinstituted the old "catch and release" program.  Funny thing is that they are being criticized by pro immigration people for releasing so many of them at once because the advocacy groups can't process them that fast.  Some of the Caravan people have given up and went home, and some of them have decided to settle in Mexico.  I have read that there have been at least two attempts to crash the border that were turned back by tear gas.  Meanwhile, illegals are still sneaking across other stretches of border that are not so well guarded.  Sounds like an invasion to me!

Not long ago, I read on Wiki that MS-13 was founded by immigrants from El Salvador who were living in Los Angeles.  I have not heard of that particular gang operating back in the home country, but I suppose it's possible since they have established branches all over.  I don't know a lot about Central American history, but I think those countries have been in bad shape for a long time, which is why their people wanted to come here in the first place.  They come here to escape poverty and violence, but poverty and violence seems to follow them here.  To be fair, the Italians and the Chinese, long before they were red, had similar problems.  The Italian Mafia has since settled down to making awful movies.  I don't know what became of the Chinese Mafia, but I did see them featured in an episode of "The Simpsons" once, so maybe they have gone into the entertainment business as well.

Here's something I found about the latest caravan that also talks about the previous one:
https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBS6bdZ?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare