As of Friday, Trump has agreed to reopen the federal government temporarily, even though the shut down has already caused low-income families to lose their homes.

Now that the federal government is up and running, 800,000 federal workers will soon receive back pay for the two checks they’ve missed, according to a Jan. 25 Washington Post article.

Before the reopening of the federal government, there were an estimated 1,000 expired government-backed housing contracts with more expiring each day. People are going to lose their homes, and this is potentially going to affect around 1.2 million low-income families, according to a Jan. 11 WUWM article.

This is far beyond what should be happening right now. With other terrible things going on in the world and the country, low-income citizens should not be facing homelessness over funding for a wall.

“I feel horrible for the families that are affected by this government shutdown,” senior communication major Gabriela Masood said. “ It is unfair and un-American that federal workers are not getting paid because of petty political drama.”

This is the 21st government shutdown since 1976, according to the Congressional Research Service. Typically, a government shutdown takes a few days, possibly a week or two, to be resolved, making this the longest shutdown in U.S. history, according to a Jan. 21 CBS News article.

Even though there is a temporary reopening of the federal government, this is an issue that should be taken seriously. It may not be affecting every person, but the shutdown is affecting government workers, their families and citizens who need government assistance for items like food stamps and Section 8 housing.

America is the number one most powerful country in the entire world, according to USNEWS. It is unacceptable for the country to be this powerful, yet fail its own citizens by throwing low-income families in the streets to struggle more and possibly become homeless.

Building a wall seems like saying America is scared, despite being a powerful country.

Trump is so focused on trying to get funding for an unneeded wallwhen he should be focusing on real issues in this country, such as gun violence and trying to better the economy, helping blue collar workers.

An estimated 800,000 federal workers were not getting paid, according to a Jan. 16 Chicago Tribune article.

“Families getting evicted from the government shutdown is very disappointing and disheartening,” senior accounting major Maritza Modesto said.

Regardless of political party, everyone is being affected.

However during the shut down, Illinois is offered $100 million in loans that are low-interest or interest-free loans to federal workers who were not getting paid. There is roughly about 8,000 government employees in the state of Illinois, that were not getting paid, according to a Jan. 23 article by NBC Chicago.

This is America, the country boasting freedom and one of the top 25 richest countries in the world, according to a Nov. 28 article by USA Today. It doesn’t make sense how there are so many Americans who are struggling every day. Trump needs to let this wall go, and look towards bettering this country.