The partial shutdown of the government that began in January should be blamed on Democrats in the U.S. Senate.

President Trump, responding to the will of the people in the 2016 election, promised a secure border and part of that is a wall along our border with Mexico.

The continuing resolution passed before Christmas included $5 billion for that wall but Democrats killed it in the Senate. Republicans couldn’t muster the needed 60 votes to keep the wall in the resolution.

Trump was trying to make a point.

Trump wants a secure border. He pointed out that former President Obama has an eight-foot fence around his compound and it is hypocritical to say Americans should have open borders.

Most Democrat lawmakers want open borders but they won’t admit it publicly. By opening the floodgates to illegal immigration, they believe they can add more Democrat votes. Chamber of commerce-type Republicans also want open borders because it means cheap labor for their businesses.

Most of all, Senate Democrats want to embarrass Trump by stopping the wall even though they know it is the best thing for the country in the long term.

The liberal news media always blames partial shutdowns on Republicans, no matter who is truly to blame. And they hate Trump, so they do stories on how the Washington, D.C., zoo has to turn back visitors.

Previous Republican leaders lacked the guts to stand up to the Democrats and the media. Trump aims to stand by his campaign promise.

And it’s the right thing to do.