Forget the 'border crisis' – it is Trump's shutdown that's made us less safe

President Trump closed the US government over a fabricated border crisis, and in doing so has sparked a real national security emergency. By shutting down the government, Trump has disabled America’s defenses against threats to national security.

Trump decided to shut down the government over the claim that America needs a wall to deal with a crisis at the border with Mexico. But there is no crisis on the border other than the humanitarian crisis of his own making, best illustrated by the thousands of children separated from their parents and the two children who died in Customs and Border Protection custody. Trump’s claims of more terrorists and crime flowing across the border are lies and the vast majority of hard drugs coming across the border come through official ports of entry, not between ports of entry where a wall might stand.

The trumped-up shutdown is Trump’s doing. Just days before reversing course, Trump was ready to fund the government without funding for the wall and supported the bill the Senate passed without wall funding. And despite trying to blame others since then, Trump claimed responsibility: “I am proud to shut down the government … I will be the one to shut it down.”

The impacts on the economic wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, the economy, and the image of a broken American political system are very real and grave. Equally grave are the ways in which Trump’s shutdown is endangering US national security.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been forced to furlough roughly 5,000 people including special agents, intelligence analysts and attorneys, according to Tom O’Connor, a special agent and president of the FBI Agents Association. While the exact duties of these furloughed employees are unclear, this many people not working could be affecting any range of critical FBI functions from fighting terrorism to organized crime.

As of early January, 42% of US-based state department personnel and 26% of state’s personnel abroad had been furloughed, with the department making clear to foreign interlocutors that it is closed for business. With furloughed staff, American efforts to stop countries from trying to sell weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or terrorists from attacking America could be hindered. Diplomats not allowed to come to work are diplomats that are not working with allies to defeat Isis or support efforts to strengthen security in Central America – efforts that might actually be effective in reducing the need for refugees and migrants to flee to the United States. While state is calling back employees for a short period of paid work, weeks of damage already done and an uncertain future continue to create dangers.

In all of the agencies affected by the shutdown there are national security functions being hit hard, with cyber-security being one of the most vulnerable. Repeated breaches of US systems over the years have made clear the regular stream of attacks against US government systems and that strong and vigilant cybersecurity efforts are essential to protecting everything the US government does. CNBC reported that “close to half of the employees within the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) – which works to help secure the nation’s critical infrastructure industries like banking, water, energy and nuclear – are furloughed”. With IT and cybersecurity professionals furloughed across the government, critical functions are being ignored. As one furloughed government IT professional put it: “We’ve never tested the limits like this before and I don’t know if they’re equipped to handle it.”

Economic strains on US government workers not being paid create additional risks. Thousands of public servants are working without pay, from the employees of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) who ensure that air travel is safe to the members of the coast guard who protect America’s borders to the Secret Service, the very people who protect the president of the United States. Employees working without pay are already being forced to find additional work elsewhere and some are quitting. As patriotic as these professionals are – thousands upon thousands continue to work without pay to protect our country – the strains that the shutdown place on these professionals makes it more difficult to do their jobs, which has a direct impact on US national security.

On top of it all, the longest-ever shutdown of the US government is sending terrifying shudders through the capitals of America’s friends and allies around the world. If Trump’s reckless and erratic conduct wasn’t enough, the shutdown is providing yet another powerful reason for countries that depend on American leadership and partnership to question whether America has lost its collective mind.

While America’s government is shut down, America’s adversaries are not. Russia continues to sow discord in America and destabilize Europe. China continues cyber-attacks while trying to undermine US alliances in Asia. Climate change has not slowed down to meet the new US staffing patterns. And Isis terrorists are not furloughed, as evidenced by the American service members killed in a recent attack.

There is no national emergency at the border. But the shutdown is making America vulnerable to threats, sparking a grave national security crisis that will only grow more dangerous as the shutdown continues. And the cause of the national security crisis is in the Oval Office.