Posted on 01/24/2018 7:25:31 AM PST by Kaslin
The Democrats' crusade to force a government shutdown in order to win permanent protections for "Dreamers" went down in flames Monday. The price extracted by Democrats was meager compared to what they wanted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) merely agreed to allow a floor debate on immigration (which McConnell said he'd have done anyway). But this compromise does guarantee that we will now get a "clean" immigration debate, and therein lies an opportunity for a big win -- though President Trump may not like it.
Last week, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly angered the president in an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. Among Kelly's transgressions, he said that the president had been "uninformed" in his thinking about the wall during the campaign and that Trump's views had "evolved" beyond some mammoth monument on the southern border.
The president repudiated his chief of staff, saying on Twitter, "The Wall is the Wall, it has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it."
It's true that the president's thinking on immigration has changed many times. He once favored a "deportation force" and a "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."
But Trump has said many times that the wall needn't be one contiguous barrier spanning the entire border. On the general idea, he's been implacable. And that's a problem.
There's a reason Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats are willing to trade initial funding or authorization for a wall in exchange for help on the Dreamer question. They understand that even under the best circumstances it will take years to build a wall, and many of them are already on the record for supporting beefed-up border security. And, if Democrats take back the House in 2018, they can turn the thing into a white elephant.
The problem with the wall is not necessarily that it's a bad idea. It's that it has become a symbol detached from policy considerations. An old friend of mine once had a painting company in college. Their unofficial motto was, "We may be slow, but we're expensive." That could be the motto of the wall, too.
Meanwhile, there are faster and more effective ways to deal with the problem of illegal immigration and the drugs "pouring" into our country, which mostly come through legal ports anyway.
Most serious immigration restrictionists favor enhanced border security and want some more physical barriers, but ultimately their support for the Trump wall is a political priority, not a policy one. They'd much rather see the president trade a Dreamer fix for cheaper and more effective solutions to the problem of illegal immigration, as well as reform of the legal immigration system. Top of the list: mandatory E-Verify, a program by which employers can check on the immigration status of job-seekers.
That's because the biggest driver of illegal immigration isn't on the supply side; it's on the demand side. Immigrants, legal and illegal, come to America primarily to work. They stay because their employers, many of them Republicans, don't care or don't ask about immigration status. Democratic politicians, particularly in sanctuary cities, want to keep it that way.
The wall, in theory, would stop illegal border crossings from Mexico, but it wouldn't do anything about people who come here legally and then simply overstay their visas -- about 42 percent of immigrants in the country illegally.
"Though there are parts of the border where better barriers are needed, universal E-Verify would probably do more to cut illegal immigration," Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, tells me. "It would weaken the jobs magnet, which is what attracts both border infiltrators and visa over-stayers -- the wall is irrelevant to over-stayers."
Unlike the wall, Krikorian notes, "E-Verify wouldn't cost much, if anything, since the IT infrastructure is already in place to handle all new hires."
If Trump wanted a clear -- and immediate -- win on illegal immigration, he'd evolve and recognize that the wall's greatest utility might be as a bargaining chip.
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Trump has moved on and the Dems are going ,”what just happened”
“Trump’s Wall Should Be a Bargaining Chip on Immigration”
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This is AMERICA, FIRST, LAST, AND ALWAYS!!!!!
THIS IS NOT LET’S MAKE A DEAL!
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TRUMP.45 knows the difference! And THAT”S THE ART! GROK THAT!
MAKE AMERICA “AMERICAN” AGAIN!
TRUMP.45 COCKED & LOCKED! IF WE CAN KEEP HIM!
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Just Plain Dick@PLANET WTF!
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The simple truth of this is that the democrats are on the wrong side of this debate. Immigration is a central concern of the forgotten men and women of this country. These forgotten men and women are why Trump won. A debate on these issues is EXACTLY where Trump wants to be. Why would he cave?
The WALL was authorized & funded by Congress in 2006, IIRC. Shrillary would have voted on it at that time.
Sure, let’s go back to the RINO school of negotiating with Democrats.
Let’s tell Democrats we are willing and ready to give away our crown jewel, the wall... and see if they offer us anything in return. Democrats will then demand we give up the wall and the NYTimes will chime in that it is morally imperative that Republicans give up on the wall. RINO Republicans will then cower in abject fear and cave, giving up the wall, getting nothing in return, and then telling their Republican base that we need to vote for more Republicans so we can get ‘em next time.
Sorry, but this is Stupid Party strategy. Thank heavens Trump don’t play that game.
The employment magnet could be turned off by extremely hefty fines, maybe $10,000 per day per illegal employed. Also the SS administration and IRS should be compelled to advise when a SS number is used at multiple locations. The government should not be facilitating identity theft.
The argument for DACA is that minors brought by their parents deserve legal status because it’s not their fault. PERIOD.
It’s not just kids brought by their parents before 1/24/2018 (or any other date). It’s all kids, past/present/future.
DACA gives parents everywhere reason to get their kids into the US. Today’s argument will be true next year and in 5 years. And most Rs are on record agreeing the kids should get legal status in the US. At the very least, the 9th circuit will ignore any dates limiting eligibility.
So any DACA agreement MUST make it very difficult if not impossible for parents to break the law for their kids. Otherwise it is inviting illegal crossing and all but granting future legal status for those who make it.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m still upset with myself that I once liked his writing.
No, Jonah. The Wall is not negotiable.
L
If Jonah Goldberg wrote it, it is not worth reading.
I believe that if Trump called for VOLUNTEERS with construction experience to build the wall that he would get an overwhelming response.
Give them a place to park their RV’s & Travel Trailers at ‘base camps. Get volunteers to cook & feed them in tents-—for free- and bring in trailers for showers & laundry.
The WALL could be built in months-—not years.
When he wrote his book on Liberal Fascism, which I read, my opinion of his intelligence greatly increased. Now, with he making the same mistake Kelly makes, describing it and still not getting it, I can only assume he had a ghost writer.
It is not important whether Trump follows the intellectual line, Jonah, we are busy SAVING THE NATION.
‘Years to build the wall’? Clearly Jonah is as ignorant about President Trump’s history as s builder as he is about everything else.
Our President, as a builder, delivered ahead of schedule and under budget as a matter of practice. There is no reason for the wall to take ‘years’.
If anyone in this country knows how to hire the right people to get that thing built fast and properly, it’s DJT.
And, no. It should never be a ‘bargaining chip’. You don’t gamble with your nation’s sovereignty and your citizens’ safety.
Johnah is a one-trick pony. He got it right when he wrote Liberal Fascism. That was, apparently, pretty much it for Jonah.
$10,000 per day per illegal employed. “”
The current fine has been in place for over 30 years & is $5000 per day per employee illegally hired.
The Soc Sec Admin & the IRS admit that there are over 1.1 MILLION Soc Sec numbers being improperly used by illegals, and they REFUSE to notify the correct holders of those numbers.
This is a complete travesty.
Any policy towards illegals must - MUST - address the incentives that are set up by that policy. Are you incentivizing more to try their hand at illegal entry or are you incentivizing them to stay home and apply through the legal process?
With 600 million people south of our porous non-existent southern border and untold millions outside the Americas who might also avail themselves of this easy access, there can be only one immigration policy -
Stop giving prizes
for illegal entry.
Any measure that permits those who entered illegally to benefit from that illegal act is amnesty. And any amnesty will bring millions more invaders.
This must be stopped.
Will you help stop this?
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One cannot “bargain” on guaranteed vote fraud dominance of our elections!
The invaders must leave, and the wall must be built.
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Jonah’s an idiot.
You are absolutely correct. We have E-Verify right now.
After a traumatic brain injury, I guess I rightly fall into the retarded category, but I am reinforcing my position there by predicting a wall won't happen. I don't think Trump will cave, but I think he will be traversing a playing field riddled with Republican caves.
I think we we should prepare ourselves for the lack of the wall by trying to pass & enforce laws that make it unattractive for immigrants to come here.
But still, building a wall may be easier than defeating the dimocrats & their hoard of potential voters.
Glass half empty & full of holes.
Amen.
Why would anybody care what this Never Trump writer has to say?
In my opinion, he is a POS.
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