I believe that every person agrees that national security is important to the United States.

We, as a country, have wanted strong national security since September 11, 2001. This was one of the first times the United States’ national security was breached and resulted in thousands of deaths of innocent citizens. Nevertheless, in that case, it was never an issue of politics, but rather the general safety of the nation.

In the same way, most people in America believe that border protection needs to be increased because there are some entering into the nation who may not have the nation in their best interest. If the wall was proposed in the distinction of ‘we do not want everyone out of our country,’ I believe that more people would be open to the idea because it would be based on basic national security.

This is not an anti nor pro wall opinion, but rather an opinion meant to convey the symbolism on what the border wall has become in our nation. The border wall has become the symbol of our nation’s polarization. I disagree with the fact that there is a humanitarian crisis at the borders. If there was, when President Trump gave his oval office address Jan. 8, the governors of states bordering Mexico would have been there to attest to this crisis and support the wall.

Republicans and Democrats are divided over the idea of any wall. The argument is no longer about the national security of the U.S., but about what side of the political spectrum they are on.

Instead of appealing to the idea of national security, Trump is allowing the polarization of this nation to point of no return. And it is not just Trump, it is the democratic lawmakers who will not budge on the wall as well. The millions of government workers who suffered through the shutdown were pawns in Trump’s gambit to get the wall.

I find it interesting that the idea of a government shutdown rebukes his original campaign promise that Mexico would pay for the wall. Of course, Mexico has denied this multiple times.

The government shutdown should not have occurred, regardless.

Government pawns are being pulled between all sides of the argument when there was not even supposed to be a shutdown. The budget bill was supposed to pass at the end of the year without a single problem as it usually does.

The first oval office address that Trump gave was about this topic and he would give it about the border wall.

The oval office address has been used by presidents to communicate the government’s most pressing concerns, and often comes in the form of a calm talk about an issue facing our nation. The oval office address is either a tool of ultimatum or this idea of informing the nation. However, Trump’s address did not come off this way, but rather as propaganda to sway the nation towards a certain side of the border wall.

The border wall is no longer about national security, but about the polarization of the nation.