Garbage litters U.S. parks as government shutdown grinds on

Walking acrossWashington's National Mall on Wednesday, Ralph Snake keptstopping to pick up pieces of garbage, which have littered thegrassy corridor since a budget showdown closed one-quarter ofthe federal government almost two weeks ago.

"I decided to clean up this one section, because that's whatAmericans will do," said Snake, a 64-year-old member of the Indigenous Ho-Chunk Nation, who was in town from his Wisconsinhome to see Sharice Davids be sworn in as one of Congress'first two female Indigenous lawmakers. "Just because thisthing is shut down, our hearts aren't shut down."

The partial shutdown, which has cut off numerous governmentservices, entered its 12th day on Wednesday, with no end insight to the impasse over U.S.President Donald Trump's demands for$5.6 billion US in congressional funding for a border wall.

National parks, including California's Joshua Tree andYosemite, have closed campgrounds after toilets threatened to overflow. Hundreds of thousands of federalemployees are working without pay. The immigration court system,already suffocating under a massive backlog, is largelyshuttered.

The prospects for an end to the showdown remained unclear Wednesday.Democrats, who will take control of the House ofRepresentatives on Thursday, have scheduled votes that day tofund the government without money for a border wall, one ofTrump's key priorities.

The president, who said during hiscampaign that Mexico would pay for the wall, has alreadyrejected the Democrats' legislation.

In Washington, the 17 museums run by the Smithsonian as wellas the National Zoo closed their doors on Wednesday afterrunning out of emergency funding, leaving tourists frustratedwith Trump and Congress.

'It's stupid'

"It's stupid," said Laura Vanbragt, a 20-year-old studentfrom Grand Rapids, Mich. "There should just be morecommunication between the two, more give on both sides, awillingness to just talk."

Unlike in some previous shutdowns, including a 16-dayimpasse in 2013, many national parks have remained open, thoughwithout staff to collect trash and service restrooms. Advocateshave voiced alarm that an extended shutdown could causeenvironmental damage.

"We're very concerned about the reports we're seeing ofhuman waste in inappropriate places," said John Garder, seniordirector of budget and appropriations for the National ParksConservation Association.

"Trash is a serious concern forwildlife."

Rescheduling immigration cases could take years

Hundreds of judges in the nation's 62 immigration courtshave been furloughed, and only cases of immigrants in detentionarebeing heard.

The Trump administration has expanded the system, which isrun by the U.S. Department of Justice, aiming to cut down on thebacklog of more than 800,000 cases, but the shutdown willcomplicate that effort, said Ashley Tabaddor, the president ofthe national immigration judges' union.

"To reschedule these cases can take several years becausethe judges are all booked," she said.

A Justice Department spokesperson said he could not respond toa request for comment because of the government shutdown.

With the National Zoo closed, the Panda Cam,a popularlive video stream of the zoo's three giant pandas, also went
offline, causing consternation among fans of Tian Tian, MeiXiang and Bei Bei.