Posted on 11/19/2015 2:24:32 PM PST by Kaslin
It's official! Sen. Ted Cruz's immigration plan trumps Trump's!
I expected that the unveiling of his plan would take a back seat to the Islamic terrorist attack in Paris, France, and rightfully so. However, in lieu of the chaos, presidents will be forced to make many decisions during their tenure that will affect the safety and security of the American people. The Paris attack gave us a chance to see how our candidates would respond if an event like that occured during their administration. In a world with an ever increasing threat of an ISIS attack, immigration is no longer a matter of migration and sovereignty alone - it's a matter of national security.
I attended a rally for Sen. Ted Cruz last Friday. It was held at Faith Assembly of God, a local mega-church in Orlando, Florida. Sen. Cruz made a brief appearance in order to give a speech and shake hands with some of his supporters. He, along with all of the other GOP presidential candidates, was scheduled to speak at the Sunshine Summit across town. As an esteemed member of the press (yeah right), I was handed two sheets of paper prior to his arrival at the church from a member of his campaign team.
What I read made it clear that our federal government, particularly the White House, would no longer be in the business of importing terrorists or exporting American jobs under a Cruz administration.
Cruz's plan doesn't explicitly address the deportation of the estimated 11 million illegal foreigners residing within our nation's borders currently. Nonetheless, it's almost certain that self deportation would be the end result of his plan. Self deportation is a more viable option than Donald Trump's plan to corral illegal foreigners and throw them out, considering the divided and often feckless Congress in Washington, D.C.
Sen. Cruz wisely divided his plan into three categories. All of which are essential in restoring our immigration system, Judeo-Christian heritage, healthy job wages and national sovereignty. The plan entails how he would secure the border, restore the rule of law, and reform legal immigration to protect Americans. Within each category Sen. Cruz offered specific and in depth objectives to implement his plan, along with a "promise" to see it through. I've listed them all below in bold face lettering, along with my own brief commentary (not in bold face) as to why each is essential for a border plan going forward:
1.) Secure the border
A.) Build a wall that works. After passing legislation in 2006 to complete a 700 mile fence across our southern border and having it signed by then President George W. Bush, Congress managed to build a menial 36 miles worth of fence. Ted Cruz promised to "complete" the remaining 664 miles worth of concrete enforced fencing.
B. Triple the number of border patrol agents. The federal government is obligated to enforce our border laws. Having more man power will help in that effort and let the countries south of our border know we mean business.
C. Increase vital aerial surveillance and other technology along the border. Although I'm skeptical of the effectiveness of this particular aspect of securing our border security, Sen. Cruz argues that "eyes in the sky and other equipment are necessary to find and detain all illegal entrants."
D.) Finish the biometric tracking system at our nation's ports of entry. Approximately 60 percent of illegal foreigners that enter our country legally on temporary visa programs never leave. A tracking system is crucial to curtail that.
2.) Restore the rule of law.
A.) End President Obama's illegal amnesty. Sen. Cruz promises to rescind each of Obama's 20 executive orders that has fomented illegal immigration his first day in office. Having argued before the Supreme Court nine times, I tend to believe he knows what he's doing.
B.) Increase deportations and end catch-and-release. Deportations and returns have to be taken seriously. Ted Cruz has promised to rededicate the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "fully enforcing the law."
C.) End sanctuary policies. Sanctuary cities are a spit in the face to those who immigrated to our country legally. They undermine any incentive for illegal foreigners to assimilate. This must be stopped! Three hundred-forty jurisdictions in the U.S. refuse to enforce our immigration laws. Cruz has promised to sign "Kate's law, and deport criminal immigrants."
D.) Prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving financial benefits and strengthen E-Verify. People who broke our border laws don't deserve welfare from U.S. citizens. Additionally, American jobs should go to Americans. This policy will help accomplish that objective.
3.) Reform legal immigration to protect Americans.
A.) Suspend the issuance of all H-1B visas for 180 days to complete a comprehensive investigation and audit of pervasive allegations of abuse of the program. Ted Cruz also promised to "initiate an immediate 90-day investigation and audit" of the H-1B visa program to protect American jobs. I would like more details on this.
B.) Halt any increases in immigration so long as American unemployment remains unacceptably high. Until American workers are near full employment it makes no sense to saturate the low skilled labor market and drive down wages.
C.) Enforce the public-charge doctrine. I love this! If you come to this country it is incumbent upon you and no one else to take care of yourself! Let's restore the "American Dream" not the "Great society."
D.) End birthright citizenship. As a black American it is offensive how our 14th Amendment is being used to justify lawless acts by illegal foreigners when it was written to protect freedmen! Sen. Cruz promises to "take steps to pass legislation or a constitutional amendment to end it."
America is the only industrialized nation in the modern world with weak border policy. Other candidates are "campaigning" about what they'd do to secure the border, but knowing what we know about Sen. Cruz, he's just speaking truth.
GG2, Cruz has made a major issue out of the economic impact of illegal immigrants on the job market.
It follows that you cannot eliminate that adverse impact by leaving the illegals in place.
They're going. One way or the other. As opposed to the Trump plan, in Cruz's plan, self-deportation will take care of the vast bulk. Then, the rest will have to be rooted out of "the shadows".
Trump says he is going to have a deportation force.
In every speech he says they all have to go back.
LUV it!
From Trump's plan:
Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first – not wealthy globetrotting donors. We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of our own. That must change. Here are the three core principles of real immigration reform:
1. A nation without borders is not a nation. There must be a wall across the southern border.
2. A nation without laws is not a nation. Laws passed in accordance with our Constitutional system of government must be enforced.
3. A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans.
Deportation is the law of the land. It is the remedy prescribed by law for people who enter illegally.
Mandatory return of all criminal aliens. The Obama Administration has released 76,000 aliens from its custody with criminal convictions since 2013 alone. All criminal aliens must be returned to their home countries, a process which can be aided by canceling any visas to foreign countries which will not accept their own criminals, and making it a separate and additional crime to commit an offense while here illegally.
Detentionâ€â€not catch-and-release. Illegal aliens apprehended crossing the border must be detained until they are sent home, no more catch-and-release.
Pretty clear about what happens to those crossing illegally into the US and those violating our laws and in prison.
Enhanced penalties for overstaying a visa. Millions of people come to the United States on temporary visas but refuse to leave, without consequence. This is a threat to national security. Individuals who refuse to leave at the time their visa expires should be subject to criminal penalties; this will also help give local jurisdictions the power to hold visa overstays until federal authorities arrive. Completion of a visa tracking system – required by law but blocked by lobbyists – will be necessary as well.
40% of the illegals come here legally and overstay their visas. Trump has made it clear that deportation applies to everyone here illegally. He has said it time and again.
That is why Trump's plan to throw all illegals in the fire while he points at them and declares "You're fired!", except for housekeepers and landscapers at his hotels, is the way to go. If you kill a million or so the rest will self-deport. Only Trump has the guts to implement the final solution and to protect the hinterland from the ethnic weeds.
Cruz is so practical and constitutional in his approach. If his plan were implemented the migration to America would stop and millions would self deport, but the World would not know that Americans have become the new master race. Only Trump can make America the master race, only Trump can overcome all the limits of the constitution and build the wall and name it the Great Wall of Trump.
Heck America should suspend the election and just coronate Trump the supreme potentate of the universe. His image should be on Mount Rushmore, and the other faces removed. We should build a giant image of him so that everybody can bow down and worship the Donald.
GO TRUMP! GO CRUZ! ~ YOU WIN OR WE LOSE!~~
JUST DO IT!!
Trump, business professional.
Cruz, politician.
Just saying?
Cruz supporters tend to overlook all of his previous positions and hear things in his current positions that he didn’t exactly say.
Since they refuse to read Trump’s positions or listen to him or all of us when we post the information, they are sure that Cruz said it all first and best. I’ve given up pointing that out to them.
Trump says they are going back, and since it is the law Trump has the right to enforce the law without going to congress or the courts.
I think Trump will take his victory as a mandate.
I totally agree with you there. The more I hear from Cruz, the more I dislike him. He is a very dishonest, opportunistic individual.
Just saying?
Ecological fallacy - inferences about the nature of specific individuals are based solely upon aggregate statistics collected for the group to which those individuals belong.
Just Sayin!
Unbelievable. You use one standard for Trump's plan and a different standard for Cruz's plan. Trump only mentions the word "deport" once in his written plan and he uses it to describe what he would do with the small number of criminals.
Both describe how they want to enforce existing immigration laws in their plans.
Trump has by far the better plan. It was written largely by Sessions' office. Cruz has seen how effective Trump has been with his immigration policy and he now tries to mimic it. You must be able to parse what Cruz has said to understand where the differences and deficiencies are. I have spent 9 years on this issue and can spot them. Still, I am glad that Cruz is moving in the right direction on immigration. He has had a Trumpiphany.
Cruz was advocating a wall in 2013.
What was Trump doing then? Reality show, wasn't it?
Or discussing premature ejaculation on Howard Stern's show.
OK. And that’s great for America.
A "deportation force" was originally used buy a reporter, when he/she asked if Trump would use such a force. No where does it appear in his plan.
But since you brought up what Trump says in his speeches, I will point out to you that Trump often says that he wants to expedite the good ones back.
Every time Cruz speaks, it's with words stolen from Trump! When he breathes, he steals air from Trump!
(multiple exclamation points and all caps!)
I hope so. The only thing that disturbs me about Trump and the immigration issue is his failure to master and stick to his own position paper. He has had many opportunities to hit the ball out of the park when faced with what I consider huge softballs down the middle of the plate. He could be ahead by much more if he would link immigration to the American worker. It is spelled out in his plan, but he never uses it. Why?
Okay blowhard - prove it.
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