Dozens of Democratic Senators have decided to withhold their votes on any government funding bill unless it concerns DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), a program designed to grant a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. This action has caused the 18th government shutdown in the history of the United States.

Thousands of federal employees will face furloughs, meaning that they will not work on Monday, January 22—including roughly 40% of White House workers. Members of the military will not be paid, but—considered essential—will still report to work.

Having negotiated with President Trump and other prominent Republicans without reaching an agreement the Democrats are tremendously frustrated.

People who qualify for DACA are often referred to as “DREAMers” (and informally, “dreamers”) because of the bipartisan DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) which was first introduced to Congress in 2001 by Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin and Utah Republican Orrin Hatch. Many supporters of the DREAM Act believe that the Democrats need to be tougher to get legislation on the Senate floor, therefore—in threatening a government shutdown—the Democrats are widely considered acting intelligently.

President Trump made it clear that he would not support legislation protecting “DREAMers” in his notorious meeting last week with legislators in which he referred to African countries and Haiti as “sh*thole” countries. However, approximately 80% of Americans support “DREAMers”—a program creatively branded because it alludes to the notion that “DREAMers” are chasing the American Dream.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The government shutdown has since ended. After a bipartisan group of Senators brokered a deal, the Senate voted 81-18 to pass a budget extension; Democrats agreed to provide their votes in exchange for a promise of continued talks on immigration reform. The aforementioned deal must be approved by the House of Representatives before the government can reopen and is expected to do so before Tuesday morning.