G. Wayne Waters’ Jan. 14 letter, “Border barrier worth $5.7 billion,” claims: “Our southern border is out of control. Anyone who watches the news knows this,” and “[Democrats] must be aware of the terrible crimes perpetrated against fellow human beings, by some, in the quest to enter our country illegally.”

That may be the view promoted by President Donald Trump’s ally Faux News, but it’s contradicted by actual facts provided by more credible sources. Just a few of these facts include Pew Research Center’s finding that the number of illegal immigrants from Mexico has decreased by 1.5 million over the past decade. A report published by the libertarian Cato Institute last February found illegal immigrants are much less likely to commit crimes than native born residents. As for illegal drugs, the great majority enters this country through legal points of entry, not where Trump insists on building his wall. A far better way to address this is by improved use of drug detection technology.

The real crisis comes from Trump’s rightfully claimed responsibility for shutting down a substantial portion of government for purely political reasons -- to maintain support from his eroding base and detract attention from other issues that undermine the credibility of his presidency. Mexico won’t pay for Trump’s wall as he promised during his 2016 campaign, but 800,000 government employees, hundreds of thousands of contractors -- who will not be compensated for their losses -- and many other adversely affected citizens paid dearly after Trump held them hostage to try securing Congress’ approval of funding his $5.7 billion wall.

-- Vic Affolter, Tillamook