DONALD TRUMP ENDORSES AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS [DISAPPOINTING, BUT NOT SURPRISING]

Disappointing, but not surprising.

The depressing reality though that is that most of the Republican field has endorsed amnesty in one form or another. So this isn't much of a surprise. Trump is using his own vocabulary, but he's echoing the same amnesty talking points you could hear from Marco Rubio... or Barack Obama.

During Friday's interview, Trump said the U.S. should take a two-step approach to the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the country.
"Well, the first thing we do is take the bad ones — of which there are, unfortunately, quite a few," said Trump, who owns three New Jersey golf courses and once owned three Atlantic City casinos. "We take the bad ones and get 'em the hell out. We get 'em out."
But he said the country should take a different approach with "the other ones" — i.e., undocumented immigrants who have "done a good job" since arriving in the U.S.
"I'm a very big believer in the merit system," Trump said. "I have to tell you: Some of these people have been here, they've done a good job. You know, in some cases, sadly, they've been living under the shadows. ... If somebody's been outstanding, we try and work something out.
"But before we do anything, we have to secure the border because the border is like having no border," he added.

I'm sure some people will be tempted to cheer this, but compare it to Obama's own amnesty executive order.

These executive actions crack down on illegal immigration at the border, prioritize deporting felons not families, and require certain undocumented immigrants to pass a criminal background check and pay their fair share of taxes as they register to temporarily stay in the U.S. without fear of deportation.
Cracking Down on Illegal Immigration at the Border: The President’s actions increase the chances that anyone attempting to cross the border illegally will be caught and sent back. Continuing the surge of resources that effectively reduced the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border illegally this summer, the President’s actions will also centralize border security command-and-control to continue to crack down on illegal immigration.
Deporting Felons, Not Families: The President’s actions focus on the deportation of people who threaten national security and public safety. He has directed immigration enforcement to place anyone suspected of terrorism, violent criminals, gang members, and recent border crossers at the top of the deportation priority list.

Deporting the "bad people" first is already an Obama talking point. People may think they can trust Trump, but not Obama or any of the Republicans, but like them, Trump frontloaded rhetoric about enforcement while keeping the amnesty out back.

And "secure the border first" has been the talking point of every Republican amnesty proponent.

Nobody likes the A-word, including Rubio and Ryan who spent the better part of a year arguing that legalizing illegal aliens isn't amnesty if they have to pay a fine. Even Obama made that argument.

The next step would be to get Trump to lay out criteria for who gets to stay and how many of them it would apply to, but good luck getting an answer.

Unless this law is changed, you’re going to have a problem deporting the mother or father unless you force the American kid to get out as well.

Let them take their American-born kids back to the home country with them or as an alternative appoint a guardian while they remain here. Surely many illegals have relatives and family members who are citizens that can serve as guardians for these kids until they become of legal age.

In the meantime the parents can apply for citizenship and come in through front door like everyone else.

I know it would be a hard choice, but they would have to decide what is best for their kids. After all, they caused this dilemma themselves by entering illegally through the back door and abusing the immigration system. They should not be rewarded with ammestry when so many have followed the "rules" to acquire citizenship legally.

Last time I checked it was Trump that brought immigration into the race. No other candidate dared to mention it. After all that would be “politically incorrect” right???

Trump did a great service by bringing up the American victims of criminal alien crime. Tens of thousands have been murdered and millions more have suffered at the hands of illegal aliens. Despite a 71 page 2011 GAO report providing the statistics, Congress has been silent. All we hear are sob stories about the "undocumented." No other candidate has mentioned it except Trump.

But Walker and Santorum have mentioned the damage being done to American workers by immigration, legal and illegal. Trump has not connected the dots between the historically low labor participation rates and increased levels of legal immigration.

But now you want me to believe your candidate is to the right of Trump when it comes to immigration?

My candidate? I am really not happy with any of them when it comes to immigration. They are all waffling and parsing their statements.

Do you actually think for yourself or do you let others, with a ludicrous grading system do your thinking for you?

I have worked on the immigration issue for 8 years as a member of a grassroots immigration organization. I have lobbied on the Hill and in Richmond. I have worked with NumbersUSA, the Center for Immigration Studies, FAIR, and many individuals like Kris Kobach, Robert Rector, Roy Beck, Mark Krikorian, Mike Cutler, Steve King, Jeff Sessions, and many others. We had a booth a CPAC for four years.

I am very informed on the immigration issue and follow closely 7 days a week. I don't consider the NumbersUSA grading system to be "ludicrous." I know how the data are developed and the criteria established. It is all supported with facts that you can see on their website. Roy Beck has been an early and strong voice about the consequences our immigration policies are having in all areas.

I think for myself, which is how I got involved in this effort in the first place. I do it voluntarily and without pay.

You and this web site have to be the only people that actually believe Walker or anyone else of the Republican candidates are to the the right of Trump on immigration.

You are not very informed about the immigration issue. You are easily swayed by misleading rhetoric. You are not alone. Trump and Cruz are not that good on immigration as it impacts the American worker. Walker has had a late epiphany, but no one really knows if he is being honest or not. Trump is getting squishy on the illegals as he takes the heat. It remains to be seen how his position evolves during the campaign. As I said, he did a great service in pointing out and putting a face on the victims of criminal aliens, something that has been lacking. It is about time. Trump should focus no on the link between immigration and American jobs.

The problem for lamestream media is that this has been Trump's answer before. Do we talk deals with those who are left? Maybe. But without a secure border, we'll be doing the same thing that Reagan did in another 30 years.

And I can't blame just Obama for this disaster; Bush had a big hand in it too (both of them) and Clinton wasn't much better.

But the lamestream media keeps finding these ‘activists’ to come on the air and tell us how evil such suggestions are, how racist, how demeaning to expect people to follow the laws. We are a nation of immigrants. There are very few people who can't point to a family member who emigrated here within a couple generations. We all understand cheaters and line cutters.

This is not a hard discussion to have, nor is it a ‘campaign killer’ as the lamestream would have us believe. I'll point to the three major propositions in California that involved (mostly) illegals, all three passed, and all three passed with a majority of ‘hispanic’ voters. Trump's on the right issue here, and one that stretches far beyond any one party line (since both parties are firmly on the giveaway side of the line...)

Of course it matters what we do at the border. Stem the flow and then take care of the rest.

All of the Reps say secure the border, but what does that mean? What are the metrics? How will it be done? And what does it accomplish? 40% of the lawbreakers come here legally and overstay their visas. If you don't include that as part of securing the border, then it leaves a huge gap.

We can chew gum and walk at the same time. We need to strengthen interior enforcement on visa overstays and enlist state and local law enforcement to assist in the enforcement effort. We need to shut off the job magnet, which will reduce the numbers trying to come here.

We know that nothing will be done at the border for the next 18 months. Did you ever wonder why the Reps have not put forward a stand alone border security bill now that they control Congress? I'll give you a few guesses.

Right now, tens of thousands of "children" are surrendering to the BP, who then put them in centers for eventual distribution throughout the country either to reunite with relatives or be put in foster homes. All at taxpayer expense. And to top things off the Obama administration is flying the parents from their home countries to be reunited with their children in the US. It is insanity.

In the meantime Obama is providing amnesty to hundreds of thousands and eventually millions. The 2012 Dreamer amnesty has legalized 580,000 to date providing them with SSNs, work permits, and the ability to travel in and out of the country. Millions more are planed in the second Executive amnesty that is temporarily being held up in the courts. Obama still managed to legalize over 100,000 disregarding the court's order to halt the proceedings.

Securing the border "first" appeals to the low information voter. A simplistic, somewhat ineffective solution, to a complex problem. It has almost become a mantra during campaign season. The reality is that securing the border is a national security issue. In addition to the illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and terrorists are coming across as well. The border area has become a no-man's land. We have lost control of it.

My point about the border and illegal immigration is that we can secure the border and have interior enforcement, but the real, long term damage is being done by legal immigration. It has been going on since 1965. In 1970 one in 21 was foreign born in this country; today it is one in 8, the highest in 90 years; and within a decade it will be one in 7, the highest in our history. In 1970 there were 9.7 million foreign born; today, it is 41.5 million. We are being colonized by the Third World--legally. Doing one thing at a time in some sort of sequence is not the right approach. We are like the proverbial frog being slowly boiled to death. By the time the frog realizes what is happening, it is too late. We may be at that point now.

I swear, it seems sometimes like the whole population is incapable of comprehending plain English.

These pundits are always trying to ‘nuance’ words into our guy’s mouths that they DID NOT SAY.

What Trump DID say, is that:

1. He wants the bad actors out NOW.
2. He appreciates the fact that some illegals have worked hard, and have committed no other crimes.
3. That the southern border has to be closed before ANYTHING happens with regards to the working illegals.

That’s it. He’s not calling for amnesty. He says he doesn’t know what the ultimate solution to the 30 million will be, but that he believes in the ‘merit system’. How that merit will be determined, and what final allowances will be granted to those people, is unknown at present.

What I do know, is that if Trump keeps his cool, he’s going to attract millions of moderates, Independents, and Democrat voters to his bandwagon. If he starts talking like Atila The Hun right now, he’s going to turn off everyone but Free Republic.

He’s already got a lot of support from non-conservatives, simply because he’s going as far as he is, with this issue. It’s pretty obvious that a huge majority of Americans want SOMETHING DONE to stop the invasion and get rid of the worst offenders.

Trump is the ONLY one who’s promising Americans that he’ll get the job done.

Start talking about loading train cars with illegals, and he’ll lose them all. This needs to be done a step at a time. You can’t expect those in the mushy middle and center left to come to full awareness overnight. A step at a time, people.

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