Democrats previously supported billions of dollars for border security, including border wall sections, to protect the integrity of the United States.
But no more, with their refusal to allocate even a modest $5 billion to President Trump's border security plan. After all, the economic impact of illegal aliens is dozens of times that amount.
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Thursday explained why Democrats are against the wall.
"They're never gonna stand for a wall being built. The optics would stop them from succeeding and the wall itself would. No more caravans. You put up a 30-foot concrete wall or whatever it is, and I’ll guarantee you illegal immigration in the southern border of the United States is brought to a screeching halt. That's why the Democrats are never gonna go for it! You put a wall up, and you free the Border Patrol to go after illegals already in the country and deport them," he said.
"The wall is the single greatest obstruction to the future of the Democrat Party. They do not want a wall. They will not support a wall. A wall would bring about the end of the Democrat Party. That's why all this that they're talking about is nothing but smoke and mirrors. They're never gonna support it. They're never gonna fund it. They want people to think they might. They'll argue about money, government shutdowns. But they can't survive as a party if that wall is ever built. That's their permanent underclass that would not be permitted to enter the country," he said.
The issue is in headlines now because funding for some parts of government runs out next week.
President Trump warns of a shutdown if Democrats in Congress don't join Republicans in offering funding for sections of a wall on the southern border.
Along with a physical wall, border security includes electronic monitors and drone technology.
It was a major issue Trump's campaign two years ago.
Limbaugh said: "Whatever they say about it is designed for public consumption. They have to make it look like they care about border security. But, my friends, they could never, ever sign on to and assist in the funding and construction of a wall. You know why? Because walls work! These people that we’re talking about put walls around their homes and their estates! They know that walls work, and that’s precisely why there isn't gonna be one (if they have anything to say about it) on the southern border, because if there ever is a wall, guess what?
"They have walls around their estates in Malibu, don't they? They have walls around their homes up in Napa Valley; Silicon Valley; Austin, Texas; wherever. Walls work. But a wall would be bad for two things. Imagine the optics! A wall? A wall sends the signal: 'Don't come. You can't get through.' The wall says, 'Don't even bother trying.' The Democrats need these people!"
He pointed to the relative success of the Democratic Party in winning long-held GOP enclaves in the south.
"They've made all of this happen with illegal immigration. It has been as much a part of their political forecasting and belief system as anything else in it is. And a wall they simply cannot permit," he said.
A wall, he said, "would bring an immediate end to their primary constituency, which is the great unwashed and permanent underclass. And then the derivatives off of that. This is what President Trump's up against. Now, Trump wants to build a wall to save America, the culture, and basically to enforce existing federal law."