In a recent column, Rep. Jack Bergman pointed out there was a difference between our northern and southern borders. Yes, there is! We have people fleeing for their lives from dangerous countries on our south and we have people fleeing the USA on our north to Canada.

Mr. Bergman said “we area nation of borders, as well as law and order. But our immigration system is broken.” Before the House changed hands, Republicans had tow years to pass legislation to fix immigration but chose to pass tax cuts for rich and again trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act.

We need to ask Mr. Bergman why, when the Senate had a bipartisan bill that President Donald Trump said he would sign, why Trump didn’t. The Republican House added $5 billion to this bill, knowing it would not pass the Senate … so the shutdown happened. Mr. Bergman does not say that when Republicans held all branches of government they failed.

Mr. Bergman is using the Trump line about this crisis at our borders, Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), whose congressional district includes more than 800 miles of the border, said in an interview published Friday that President Trump’s claim of a “border crisis” is a “myth.”

Mr. Bergman gives statistics about those arrested at the borders over the last two years, but fails to say that you can’t get the stats because of the government shutdown.

How convenient! It is a fact that our southern borders have seen a decrease in crossings in 2016 and 2017. I can’t include last year because I will have to wait until Republicans end Trump’s shutdown.

Jack, tell missing-in-action Mitch McConnell to pass the Senate bill that had bipartisan support that Trump said he would sign.

MARY O’NEILL,

Presque Isle