A storm of controversy recently came over El Paso on February 11th as President Trump came to town and made headlines. The president recently made the city part of his political campaign for the infamous wall as he said that El Paso had been one of the nation’s most dangerous cities until the creation of the wall.  This certainly created outrage among the city’s residents who disputed Trump’s claims that the border barrier was the reason that our city is now considered to be one of the safest in the nation. News outlets and many on social media showed the statistics that debunked Trumps claims as the FBI stats showed that El Paso’s crime rates dropped in the early 1990s and high-grade steel variety border wall was not built in the city until 2008. One of the outraged El Pasoans was senior, Ruby Medina who described herself as “upset” as she had “always regarded El Paso as being an extremely safe city” and was “justified in believing so after being informed that FBI data proved exactly that.” Despite the anger and tension that had been created in the city, many still emerged to the Trump rally to show their support for the president or to simply observe him in person.  

On this day, however, another individual also made headlines. Beto O’ Rourke a Democrat who ran for Senate in 2018 but lost to Ted Cruz is very well known for his contrasting political opinions to those of the president. Beto was part of the rally that was done to go against Trump’s statements about the city and to attract those who are also opposed to the creation of the border wall. He commenced the movement at Bowie High School and gained much support as it was stated that his rally contained around 10,000 to 15,000 people, in contrast to that of Trumps of 6,500. However, many were left waiting outside of the Coliseum to hear Trump’s speech as the capacity of the Coliseum was not enough for the many people from all over the country who came to see him. Many were left waiting, such as junior, David Santacruz who described the lines as “colossal.”  

It is clear that the country is currently divided upon the topic of the “border wall” and the involvement of our city has now been made part of the controversial political issue.  To many, it might create pride and excitement to be made a part of this but to others, it certainly created rage and disappointment. This political debate will definitely continue and there is no doubt that many young individuals, including those of Chapin High School, are learning and choosing what side they want to stand on.