HOULTON, Maine — Jessica Murphy had planned to visit Washington D.C. with her three children earlier this month.
It was a trip that the Houlton resident had hoped to take with them in order to show them some of the historic sights in the nation’s capital and also to teach them a bit more about government.
She decided to cancel the trip after the government shutdown, fearing that the museums and other sights she wanted to take them to would be closed or that air travel would not be as safe.
After the longest shutdown in U.S. history ended on Jan. 25, the federal government is back at work. Murphy, however, says that she is uncertain about whether to reschedule the trip for her children’s February vacation.
“My biggest fear is that we are going to pretty much get back to operating normally again and then there will be another shutdown,” she said. “I don’t want to take the chance. I would love to take them in the winter, because I don’t want to be walking around Washington D.C. when it is hot in the summer.”
Decisions around travel were just some of the concerns expressed by Aroostook County residents, as the possibility for another shutdown has been threatened by President Donald Trump if he does not get the money for his border wall.
On Wednesday, Trump said in a tweet that the bipartisan committee of lawmakers who are negotiating border security funding is “wasting their time” if their talks don’t include a “wall or physical barrier.”
Jason Moore of Presque Isle said that he favors building a wall, because he believes illegal immigration in the U.S. has “gotten out of control.”
“We just can’t accommodate all of these people who want to move to the U.S.,” he said. “I have two friends who are border patrol agents and they are stationed on the southern border. They have told me about the influx of illegal immigrants and some of the problems that have resulted.”
At the same time, he was against another shutdown.
“I think that is the wrong thing to do,” he said. “It didn’t work last time. Let’s find another solution besides furloughing or withholding paychecks from 800,000 workers.”
Kim Hutchinson, another Presque Isle resident, said that she agreed that illegal immigration was a problem. She said Wednesday that she believes a combination of technology and more funding for border patrol agents would work better than a wall.
“I just don’t think a wall is going to work,” she said. “All that you have to do is climb over it or tunnel under it. There are countless tunnels under the southern border. They are showing them on the news all the time. I am also against any funding for it, since the president said that Mexico would pay for it. He should stick to his campaign promise.”
