Locked down — on U.S. shutdown

The government shutdown in the U.S. could hurt both Republicans and Democrats

Last week, the 19th federal government shutdown in U.S. history went into force. If previous occasions are any indication, this shutdown will also lead to the furlough(थोड़े दिन की छुट्टी) of many hundreds of thousands of government workers, closure of national parks with a potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and a possible overall macroeconomic cost of several billions of dollars in terms of productivity loss associated with the cessation(समाप्ति) of multiple public services. This encore(दोहराना) is entirely preventable and the seismic(भूकंप) payment default can be traced back to one inescapable reality in Washington: congressional dysfunction(असामान्य) stemming(उत्पन्न होना) from bitterly partisan politicking. 

A federal shutdown occurs when lawmakers fail to agree on a spending bill, and cannot even sign off on a stopgap funding measure that might keep the government machinery humming for a few more months. In this case, the bill in question would have helped tide over a looming(उभरते) fiscal gap at least until the middle of February. Yet that did not happen, because Republicans refused to compromise on a hardline(कट्टरपंथी) approach on immigration policy, specifically on Deferred(स्थगित)  Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the Obama-era clemency(दया) policy for foreign-born children of U.S.-based undocumented workers. That policy was ended in September 2017 when President Donald Trump revoked(वापस लेना) his predecessor’s(पूर्वज) executive order to protect these children, the so-called DREAMers, from deportation(निर्वासन).This apparently rattled(खड़खड़) Democratic lawmakers to the point where they were willing to make a stopgap budget deal, contingent(आकस्मिक) on Congress agreeing to legislation to shield nearly 700,000 of these law-abiding youngsters from removal.

With dark clouds on Capitol Hill overshadowing the first anniversary of Mr. Trump’s presidency, he has reiterated(दोहराया) his call for strong border security and a crackdown on “illegal immigrants(आप्रवासी)”. Interestingly, a recent CNN poll suggested 84% of Americans want DACA extended. But a government shutdown is likely to cut both ways, hurting the prospects of those on both sides of the aisle(गलियारा) seeking re-election in the November 2018 mid-term election. Voters may well consider Democrats to be obstructionist, or as putting undocumented workers ahead of national security. And Republicans may lose votes for failing to keep the government working despite controlling the Senate, House of Representatives and the White House. Regardless of who wins in that election, the debate on immigration reform will continue. Too much is at stake for not only the nearly 11.3 million undocumented workers but also the nearly 1.5 million temporary foreign workers, among whom are 500,000 to 700,000 H-1B visa holders, the majority of them from India. For, when Congress finally transcends(पार) its partisan biases and legislates a comprehensive immigration reform package, it will likely introduce a revised policy for each of the visa categories.