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Trump Moves to the Center: I Support Amnesty
Director Blue ^ | 1/13/2016 | Marc Thiessen

Posted on 02/12/2016 2:12:41 PM PST by conservativejoy

Trump's supporters loved his promise this week to create a "deportation force” to remove all 11 million illegal immigrants living in America, and his repeated declaration that everyone here illegally will “have to go."

But his supporters tend to overlook is his other promise - repeated in a recent debate - that under his immigration plan "they will come back."

That's right. Under Trump's immigration plan almost all of 11 million illegal aliens (save for a small minority with criminal records) will get to return and get permanent legal status to stay here in America.

Trump supports amnesty.

On the Kelly File Thursday, Trump's son Eric expressed frustration that the media overlooks this:

The point isn't just deporting them, it's deporting them and letting them back in legally. He's been so clear about that and I know the liberal media wants to misconstrue it, but its deporting them and letting them back legally.

Eric Trump is right. His father has been crystal clear that he wants all the illegals to return and live in America.

Listen closely to what Trump is actually proposing. In an interview with CNN's Dana Bash earlier this year, Trump explained his plan this way:

I would get people out and then have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal. A lot of these people are helping us ... and sometimes it's jobs a citizen of the United States doesn't want to do. I want to move 'em out, and we're going to move 'em back in and let them be legal.

This is a policy called "touchback" and it was first proposed in 2007 by moderate Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX). She offered a "touchback" amendment on the Senate floor that would have required illegal immigrants to return to their home countries to apply for a special "Z visa" that would allow them to reenter the United States in an expedited fashion and work here indefinitely.

Her amendment lost by a relatively close margin, 53-45. It was supported by most Republicans and even got five Democratic votes - Sens. Claire McCaskill, Max Baucus, Jon Tester, Byron Dorgan and John Rockefeller all voted for it.

The idea was considered so reasonable that in an April 22, 2007 editorial entitled "Progress on Immigration," the New York Times declared:

It's not ideal, but if a touchback provision is manageable and reassures people that illegal immigrants are indeed going to the back of the line, then it will be defensible.

So what Trump is proposing today - sending illegal immigrants back to their home countries and then allowing the "good ones" to return in an "expedited" fashion - was endorsed by the liberal New York Times!

In fact, the idea even got the support of - wait for it - illegal immigrants.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Times did the first telephone poll of illegal immigrants and asked whether they would go home under a "touchback" law that allowed them to return with legal status. Sixty-three percent said yes, 27% said no and 10% were undecided. If they were promised a path to citizenship when they returned, the number who said they would leave and return legally grew to 85%.

Donald Trump's detractors were aghast at his invocation during the Fox Business debate of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Operation Wetback" which forcibly removed 1.5 million illegal immigrants, and his promise the following day to establish a "deportation force" to remove the 11 million illegal immigrants living in America today.

Never mind the fact that we already have a "deportation force" - it's called US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The fact is, Trump won't need a "deportation force" or an "Operation Wetback" to get illegal immigrants to go home - because he has promised that they can return quickly with legal status.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants say they would voluntarily cooperate with Trump's plan.

If anything, the "touchback" plan Trump endorses was attacked by conservatives back in 2007. In an editorial, National Review called touchback a "fraud" that gives illegal aliens “their own privileged pathway” ahead of "applicants who have complied with US immigration laws."

That is precisely what Trump is proposing. Under his plan, illegal aliens don't have to go to the end of the line behind those who have complied with our immigration laws. They get an "expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal." They get to cut the line and then stay in America.

So if you get past Trump's bluster, the plan he is proposing is so liberal that it earned the support of the New York Times and the opposition of National Review.

The reason is simple: Trump's plan is in fact a form of amnesty - you just have to leave the country briefly to get it.

So when Trump says of illegal immigrants "they all have to go," don't overlook the fact that under his plan almost all would be able to immediately return – and stay.

This means there is very little difference between his plan and what John Kasich and Jeb Bush are supporting.

And most of his supporters don't even realize it.


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: 1stcanadiansentor; amnesty; bs; cjtds; gangof14post; propagandadujour; tedspacificpartners; theycomeoutatnight; trump; usualsuspect
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To: conservativejoy

Right under which name are they in the system? We have seen people here who go by adifferent name every year or so and technically they are all their names or combinations of their names. Carlos Jose Angel Caberras Cisneros Makes for lots of combinations. Do you think Cruz will set up a new federal dept of DNA to know who has and has not been here illegally?


61 posted on 02/12/2016 2:39:21 PM PST by nclaurel
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To: conservativejoy

I believe this is going to be the compromise:

Take the 30 million or so that are here illegally and give them legal status, as long as they come out into the open.

If this happens, hopefully they will never be given a path to citizenship! No right to vote...dems will balk.

Because of the logistics involved, I also don’t believe there will necessarily be a deportation and touchback.


62 posted on 02/12/2016 2:39:29 PM PST by Heart of Georgia
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To: lodi90

Once again you hit the nail on the head. As Cruz is discovering, while Dems embrace lying, conservatives are less enthusiastic about it.


63 posted on 02/12/2016 2:39:54 PM PST by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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To: conservativejoy

I remember him making that remark early on. It was never ‘specified’. His immigration plan is ‘specified’ in writing. You’re playing loose with words.

Your Breitbart link refers to a ‘remark’ from last summer. Trump has never put it into writing. They were off the cuff remarks.

Trump has since put into writing that all H1B workers will be paid 110% of the prevailing wage for the job category they are in. That will force employers to seek American employees first. Trump is all about putting Americans first.


64 posted on 02/12/2016 2:41:03 PM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: conservativejoy

You forgot a good one: Cruz Iowa precinct captain smearing Trump saying he supported partial birth abortion, gay marraige and amnesty six months ago. Notice he is reading his talking points off a piece of paper.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/02/disgusting-cruz-camp-smearing-donald-trump-at-iowa-caucus-sites/


65 posted on 02/12/2016 2:41:06 PM PST by lodi90 (TRUMP Force 1 lifting off)
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To: conservativejoy

Let’s rephrase what Trump said so we can pretend that he’s changed his position.


66 posted on 02/12/2016 2:41:32 PM PST by mbrfl
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To: o2bfree
". . . . He’ll [Trump will] bring back only the good ones. * College Educated * Business Owners * Teachers, etc These will be mainly Conservative folks, not the typical democratic voters. Ha ha ha ha ha . . . . ..
67 posted on 02/12/2016 2:41:57 PM PST by inpajamas (Texas Akbar!!!!!!!)
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To: Yaelle
So I trust him more than Cruz, whom I liked a lot until I saw him campaign.

NONONO! Trump is NEVER going to do the things he talked about...

Unlike Ted Cruz who WILL do everything he talked about...after Trump made it safe to talk about them....

68 posted on 02/12/2016 2:42:37 PM PST by papertyger (-/\/\/\-)
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To: lodi90

Yeah only billionaires should run for office.


69 posted on 02/12/2016 2:43:07 PM PST by Leto
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To: conservativejoy

It is not amnesty to deport illegals and then allow some of them to come back legally that qualify after following the legal process. Amnesty is allowing those here now illegally to remain here untouched under some blanket policy.

Under our immigration laws people are allowed to apply to come here legally. People who are deported may also apply though depending on the conditions of their deportation they may not qualify to come back.

The way immigration laws used to work when they were actually enforced is people found here illegally had a choice to self deport, which does not require going through the courts. If someone had to be forcibly deported after refusing to self deport they were not allowed to come here legally in the future. That was used like a hammer over the illegals to get them to self deport and not clog up our courts.

Anyone elected President will have to allow people deported to be able to apply to come back legally under our current laws. The law would have to be changed for it to be otherwise.


70 posted on 02/12/2016 2:43:32 PM PST by Tammy8
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To: fireman15

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/07/27/trump-id-expedite-legal-immigration-process-for-good-illegals-after-getting-them-out/


71 posted on 02/12/2016 2:44:18 PM PST by FerociousRabbit
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To: AuntB

This is beltway careerism at it’s sleaziest. No longer anything principled or conservative about Tricky Ted Cruz.


72 posted on 02/12/2016 2:44:27 PM PST by lodi90 (TRUMP Force 1 lifting off)
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To: conservativejoy

Unless you’ve spent the last many mos in a cave, you’d know this “expedite” comment has been posted, on this site, ~1,000,000,000x. It doesn’t begin to summarize Trump’s actual policy. It’s just one line that Cruz supporters seize on, while ignoring everything else Trump has said on the subject. I’ve corrected the record dozens of times.

Not gonna do it any more. Go ahead and post lies. It’s not a winning strategy.


73 posted on 02/12/2016 2:46:41 PM PST by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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To: nickcarraway

I think if Trump is elected he will do just fine.


74 posted on 02/12/2016 2:47:55 PM PST by A CA Guy (Are God Bless America, God Bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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To: conservativejoy

On the Kelly File Thursday, Trump’s son Eric expressed frustration that the media overlooks this:

The point isn’t just deporting them, it’s deporting them and letting them back in legally. He’s been so clear about that and I know the liberal media wants to misconstrue it, but its deporting them and letting them back legally.

Eric Trump is right. His father has been crystal clear that he wants all the illegals to return and live in America.


To use a fave word of CRuz.....utter BS.

Give it up, cj....no matter how many times you post this ‘touch back’ cr@pola, it’s not going to make it true.

Eric IS right....his dad has been crystal clear on this.....if you’re here ILLEGALLY, you will be deported. You can file papers and begin the process of coming in LEGALLY.

Touch back is when you say you want the millions here illegally to ‘come out of the shadows’ and offer them a ‘path to citizenship’, then meet them at the border with Glenn Beck, TOUCH them with TEDdy bears and tell them they don’t have to go BACK....like Ted CRuz has done.


75 posted on 02/12/2016 2:48:03 PM PST by Jane Long (Go Trump, go! Make America Safe Again :)
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To: gov_bean_ counter

His meaning was quite clear from the outset unless one is predisposed to misinterpret it. Dwight Eisenhower quite often did not speak in complete sentences but got his points across.


76 posted on 02/12/2016 2:49:27 PM PST by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them or they more like we used to be?)
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To: conservativejoy

No, it is not so. He clearly speaks of expediting legal channels, not of legalizing that which is not legal.


77 posted on 02/12/2016 2:50:37 PM PST by AmericanVictory (Should we be more like them or they more like we used to be?)
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To: conservativejoy

You learned nothing from your timeout.


78 posted on 02/12/2016 2:50:47 PM PST by jazusamo (Have YOU Donated to the Freep-a-Thon? https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: conservativejoy

That big beautiful door is going to be a lot bigger going out than it is coming back in. When Trump says you can come back legally he’s taking the lumps out. Maybe a few of you who graduated HS and have job skill we need can come back. LOL!


79 posted on 02/12/2016 2:52:18 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
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To: conservativejoy

Ruh-Roh


80 posted on 02/12/2016 2:53:59 PM PST by Pajamajan ( Pray for our nation. Thank the Lord for everything you have. Don't wait. Do it today.)
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