In Cedar Rapids, build the flood wall

As a Cedar Rapids native and someone who personally lost six homes in the 2008 flood, I am deeply angered and concerned about the possibility of the government pulling back federal money from our flood wall and putting it into President Donald Trump's immigration wall. Although U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said 'things appear to be in place to prevent this from happening,” I feel about as confident in this statement as someone telling me vitamin C prevents illnesses.

Illegal entries by individuals from Mexico has fallen by more than 90 percent since 2000, according to the Border Patrol, and, in 2017, Customs and Border Protection recorded the lowest level of illegal cross-border migration on record. Yet Sens. Ernst and Chuck Grassley support Trump's wall. Does that mean they support this national emergency? Could their lack of response be due to Trump stating his national emergency is unnecessary, just a faster way of doing things? Or would it be because they know the ramifications of what Trump's national emergency will do to the federal funding given to cities, such as Cedar Rapids, that have suffered through national disasters?

Regardless, their lack of response has been disheartening and I would like to see a little more backbone from those who represent us.

Tanya Burgess

Cedar Rapids