Right now politicians in the United States are hard at work, trying to negotiate a border control agreement that will be approved by both Democrats and Republicans, so that they can move ahead to pass the budget proposal for 2019. The government is currently operating on a short-term budget which is set to expire on Friday. President Trump has vowed to start another shutdown after February 15 if he does not get funding for his wall.
The Democrats and the Republicans are actually not arguing over the wall itself. Many Republican members of Congress agree with the Democrats that a wall is not needed. However, right now their talks are centered around the detention centers where illegal immigrants are held before deportation. The Republican view is that these centers should be able to house a lot of people so that deportations can happen faster. The Democrats are concerned about the living conditions in the centers, arguing that keeping too many people crammed together is neither safe nor healthy. If the Republican negotiators agree to lower the number of beds, Democrats are ready to offer partial funding - not necessarily for a wall, but for other kinds of barriers.
At this point nobody wants another government shutdown, but as the two main parties struggle to reach an agreement, we are likely to see one.
