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Letter: Closing the government doesn’t make us safer

In early January each year I call the Internal Revenue Service to request tax forms and instructions for my tax return filing. This year a recording says, “Telephone assistance not available at this time.” The IRS offices are closed over a border wall dispute.

Homeland Security needs much more funding since 9/11; that is the world we live in. Coordination with many friendly countries and their intelligence gathering apparatus is vital. Pre-emptive actions will likely be necessary, not to occupy a country but to knock out any planned terrorist action. This will require much more money that is yet to be funded. Airport TSA security is barely a beginning.

The United States has many border walls in vital places on our southern frontier. Some additional walls may be necessary, but they are not as important as increasing spending to ward off the threat of terrorism. Immigrants from Central America are not on the terrorist list. They want to live here and be safe, not destroy us.

Closing the government to increase spending on possible terrorism makes more sense than border walls to keep out the hungry and displaced whom we need and employ. All immigrants should be registered, all countries must know who is in their country. A kind and gentle guest worker law would help. More funding for more border walls is a diversion.

My taxes for 2018 will apparently be less because taxes were foolishly cut, causing more debt. If the government reopens, if the IRS prints the forms, if forms are sent to me, and if the IRS is available to answer questions about the new tax law, I will file my tax return. If!

Jerry Crouch, Salt Lake City

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