With the U.S. economy basically humming along — and the U.S. on top of the world in terms of solid, steady growth — as demonstrated by record string of increases in jobs, unemployment rate at 4.9 percent (considered near full-employment), consumer confidence at the highest level since before the Bush Great Recession, and stock market at more than double what it was when Obama came into office — Donald Trump and the Republicans have little to run on that will resonate in what they are billing as a “change election.”
That is, except for Immigration.
In point of fact, most Americans would not rank “immigration” as their top priority.
They might cite “jobs,” “income security,” “national security,” “health care,” “gun violence prevention” and even “climate change” as higher priorities, but immigration would not be there, but for Trump and his desperate effort to distinguish himself from a field of Republican presidential wannabes.
Indeed, as the New York Times reported, only 8 percent of Americans say immigration is a priority issue, but it is the sole priority for the so-called “Alt-Right” — white supremacists, neo-Nazis who Trump seems to be enthralled by.
Trump has managed to turn Immigrants into the Boogeyman responsible for every bad thing in the world.
Fear of terrorism? Blame immigrants. Wages stagnant? Blame immigrants. Coal miners lost their jobs because mining companies can’t compete against natural gas? Blame immigrants for stealing their jobs. The latest victim of gun violence?
Don’t blame the rampant availability of weapons built for the battlefield; blame immigrants. Actual crime rates may be down — and the rate of crime committed by immigrants is a fraction of the rate committed by “native born” — but that doesn’t stop Trump from blaming immigrants for an increase in crime.
And what is Trump’s remedy for his imagined invasion by “Others” across the southern border (regardless of the fact that immigration has slowed to the lowest in decades; that Obama has deported more undocumented immigrants than his predecessors put together, for which Hispanics punished him in 2014, enabling Republicans to take over the Senate)?
His 10-point prescription can be summed up in a phrase: police state.
Couple his call to geometrically multiply the number of border control agents, to create a Deportation Task Force, build a wall (has he not heard that drug smugglers are tunneling?), with a call to require people seeking entry to the U.S. to be “extremely vetted” — questioned on their political and religious ideology to make sure they are “compatible” with American ideals (one wonders what that means with Trump), and that schools should start teaching patriotism, so that the United States might become “One Nation” (presumably, that means one political ideology — his).
He also seeks to set up a test of an immigrant’s “assimilation” — that they have been appropriately Americanized.
What does this mean in practical terms?
At the border, does that mean a visitor would have to answer questions about religion and political ideology? That women wearing head-scarves would automatically be barred?
That his Deportation Task Force would invade an immigrant’s home? Inspect what foods they are eating, what décor they have, whether they celebrate the holidays of their homeland or non-Christian religion?
That children would have to recite some oath (including the “Under God” part which is unconstitutional on its face). That children could be turned in for questioning whether American Revolution was fought by rebels or patriots? (Had the British won, of course the labels would have been reversed.)
And what about that little thing called “due process” or the Fourth Amendment which prohibits unjustified search and seizure, and for that matter, racial profiling.
Trump says that anyone can be snagged for any reason, and if they are deemed to be a criminal, can be immediately detained and deported “far, far away”.
Now add on top of this Trumps contempt for “liberal media” — which essentially is any and all media that doesn’t fawn over him, and his disturbing tendency to blackball media like the Washington Post and to rally his mob against “media scum” “the worst people”.
Though the label “Nazi” and “Fascist” are often too hastily thrown around, when you have visited exhibits at Holocaust museums and concentration camps which document the propaganda campaign used to dehumanize Jews to pave the way for them to be rounded up, stuffed into cattle cars, and taken to their deaths in plain sight of their neighbors, the similarity with Trump’s campaign is beyond chilling.
Donald Trump’s grand idea for immigration policy is to exclude low-skilled individuals, desperate and grateful for any job so that they do the work that Americans refuse to do — to have some proficiency test (beyond the ideological and religious test) — and only bring in the skilled professionals, who will actually compete with our own ambitious college graduates who already are having trouble finding jobs that meet their grandiose expectations.
But as it has been the case throughout American history, immigrants have been welcomed in to be the grunt workers to build railroads, tunnels, Trump’s buildings.
And people who are doing well in their home countries aren’t the ones who brave the terrifying experience of migrating.
And today, Trump’s businesses have been prime example of how employers exploit undocumented workers — his own use of “illegal” workers on his construction sites, his own modeling agency (and where is the press conference Melania was supposed to hold to prove she came here legally?)
Let’s be honest: the vast majority of the 11 million would not be “illegal” or “undocumented” if the system to admit immigrants had not been purposefully undermined and broken going back to the Reagan years.
Instead of putting upward pressure on less-than-living wages, in essence, Trump’s grand immigration idea would result in downward pressure on high-priced techies. That’s why Facebook and the rest of Silicon Valley is so keen on immigration reform.
But we are all harmed by having a population — the equivalent of an entire country — living in the shadows, fearful of law enforcement, vulnerable to exploitation by unscrupulous employers like Donald Trump, which has the impact of undermining wages and working conditions for “legal,” “documented” workers.
In night-and-day contrast to Trump, Clinton has pledged to fight for comprehensive immigration reform within her first 100 days “that offers a pathway to full and equal citizenship, fixes the family visa backlog, and protects our borders and national security.” The essentials are:
Fight for comprehensive immigration reform legislation with a path to full and equal citizenship.
Defend President Obama’s DACA and DAPA executive actions.
Do everything possible under the law to go further to protect families.
Conduct humane, targeted immigration enforcement.
End family detention.
Close private immigrant detention centers.
Ensure families can buy into Affordable Care Act exchanges, regardless of immigration status.
Promote naturalization.
Remove the three- and 10-year bars to keep families together.
But I don’t believe that the reform Clinton advocates for in her first 100 days should include a path
to citizenship.
It should be devoted to establishing how these 11 million people could acquire a legal status.
The issue of Citizenship, which Republicans regard as “stuffing the voter rolls with Democrats” and is what has the Republicans so apoplexed — can be dealt with in a separate action.
Of course, what is a demagogue without spewing hate-filled lies? He charges Clinton with advocating for “open borders” and “amnesty”, of unleashing murderers and rapists through peaceful neighborhoods.
He is using the George H.W. Bush “Willie Horton” strategy on steroids.
