My wife came to America legally from Portugal. Several of my friends or their family came to America legally from Mexico. My grandparents came here legally from Italy. They all love America and respected the law by becoming citizens the correct way. America is a nation of laws with borders. Those who come here illegally should not get preferential treatment over those who came here legally.

The Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have shut down the government for political gain, using amnesty for illegal aliens as their mean. While President Trump and Republicans are willing to assist those here illegally to have a transition to legal status, they want immigration reform and security. President Trump has called for a wall on the southern border in the most essential places. He has called on the end of Chain Migration and the end to the Immigration Lottery. Each of those requests seems reasonable.

There was a time when it was not politically in the Democrats favor to shut down the government to Americans in favor of illegal aliens. As a matter of fact, the first two years of Obama's presidency, the Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate. They could have rammed immigration laws and amnesty in the face of Republican opposition; but didn't.

Obama as a senator favored border security in 2006 stating, "Those who enter our country illegally and those who employ them disrespect the rule of law. And because we live in an age where terrorists are challenging our borders, we cannot allow people to pour into the U.S. undetected, undocumented, and unchecked." He continued, "better fences and better security along our borders" would "help stem some of the tide of illegal immigration in this country."

CA Senator Diane Feinstein also stated in 2006, "Democrats are solidly behind controlling the border, and we support the border fence. We've got to get tough on the border. There's no question the border is a sieve."

Even Schumer himself said these words as recently as 2009, "People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the U.S, legally."

Strange that when President Trump or Republicans utter those same words, somehow they are now racists? Does that make the Democrats reformed racists?

So what has changed? So why should the Democrats shut down the government and refuse to pay our military or those defending the border? It is not about those here illegally as it is about their political power. The Democrats know if they can get more people here illegally to become citizens on government assistance, those people would likely vote Democrat allowing the Democrats to have political power, such as they do in California.

Trump is trying to find a reasonable solution to prevent illegal aliens from coming into America, including terrorists to protect America. Trump wants to make America great again. Democrats just want to gain political control, even if they make America and Americans last.

Frank Aquila is president of the South San Joaquin Republicans and author of the book, "Sarah Palin Out of Nowhere." He can be emailed at mantecarepublicans@yahoo.com