Great piece, but we need to be careful here.
The way to win the immigration debate isn't to mirror Trump's far right policies with far left policies. The way to win is to take the middle ground now that the Republicans have left it open.
Democrats were never known as "soft" on immigration, and we shouldn't want to be. We should be known as "strong but humane" or "tough but kind".
This 2018 election did not mean Democrats won on immigration. A majority of Americans do care about border security, so let's showcase our "strong yet kind" border security ideals i.e. let the kids in and give them better accommodations, but don't let anyone fly under the radar because of course there could be some bad people trying to get in too. We can't be seen as unrealistically optimistic with our borders because it will brand us weak on security.
I fear if Democrats lose in 2020 it will be because we underestimated the power of being defined as the party of "open boarders." That is a losing position. Luckily, Republicans have given us the opportunity to position ourselves and take the middle, which is what most Americans desire in regards to border security.
36
@Aaron K. Well said, Aaron. Democrats stand no chance of regaining the WH if they are perceived as the "open borders" party. There is no rational group in this country that doesn't support tougher, more stringent, immigration, and a broader deportation policy. "Humane" is the appropriate modifier here.
15
@Aaron K.
There are so many issues facing Americans. The fact tha we have done nothing to address the light of the middle class, education, health care makes the spending of money on a wall as if it is 1945 makes the average thinking person crazy. We need immigration reform this is not new, and yet we act as if no one has attempted to fix the issues. Poliicians have in all fairness and the GOP refuse to address the issue because the person in charge wouldn't have a platform if immigration was addressed. What would he rant about. This prison reform he is taking credit for, what are the specifics? Who is going to take care of the private prisons which New Jersey has so many of? Trump is all about the con as is most of the GOP. Talk is cheap, it would be nice in our lifetime, if businesses, smart forward thinking politicians were locked up in a room for three months and came up with a solid plan for public review, but that won't happen, it would be doing the will of the American people not the con.
8
Trump needs to stay strong with his base to avoid impeachment. If his popularity stays strong with the base, the Republican House and Senate will not remove him for fear of backlash from those voters in 2020. If he loses the support of Republican primary voters, he will be gone faster than you can say President Mike Pence. Immigration is the one tool Trump knows to keep the 30-35% of Americans who are his core supporters firmly on his side. The evangelicals and the business right are drifting away not that they have the supreme court they wanted. Those groups would be happier with a President Pence, anyway. Trump needs to stay full-on nativist until he wins the Republican nomination for 2020; it's his only strategy for survival. That is less likely to get him elected in 2020, but he'll worry about that when he's survived until 2020 and has the nomination sewed up.
11
The asylum argument is completely disingenuous. Everyone understands that it is a backdoor into the country because once a migrant crosses into the US, he or she can claim asylum status, receive legal protection and then disappear. I do not believe these people are criminals or drug users or in anyway are unworthy of protection. But we cannot allow are borders to be completely open to all and using the asylum ticket makes a mockery of our laws. This is an international problem and should be addressed as such. If asylum is the real justification for allowing them in, why don't we take our share but also ask other stable countries in Central or South America to take some.
37
@Jake, Once these 'asylum seekers' are caught and released into the US they are about as temporary as a tattoo.
27
Trump has a "philosophy" about immigration that many embrace. Unfortunately, he (and millions of Americans) are not willing to pay the real price for immigration reform. Building a wall or spending huge amounts of money on the wrong things won't solve the problem. Here's what will:
1) A U.S. identity card (biometric if possible) issued at no cost to citizens who can document their status. This would also end all of the voter fraud nonsense.
2) Severe penalties (prison time) for anyone employing improperly documented workers. It would attack the main enabler of illegal immigration, the "demand" side of the equation.
3) Implement a workable guest-worker program for migrants who do a lot of work in this country.
Let me also add that regular Americans support Trump policies because they are "shiny" and make good headlines; however, they are not really that effective. Besides, I'm convinced that those in power really don't want a solution to the immigration problem. They see it as a wedge issue and also, they don't want the cheap labor to end.
12
@Mrfreeze6—— #2 and 3 are right on, especially #2, but....many of us are leery of a national identity card. Fascist images of “ your papers, please” are far too easy to imagine.
5
this "president" won the 2016 election on a fluke of gerrymandering, razor-thin margins in the electoral college, and negative spin about his opponent (not to mention a little help from the Russians.) a majority of Americans never supported his racist immigration policies; he is so out of touch with what Americans want. he keeps pushing this agenda - for some delusional reason thinking it worked once so it will work again? well it didn't work, that's not what got him elected. so I say to him: keep working that agenda... because I don't want him to get reelected
2
The problem isn't immigration, it's illegal immigration. We don't need a wall, but we do need to make e-verify mandatory and serve anyone who employs an illegal with huge fines. We need to re-deploy border agents to go into neighborhoods and slap people with tickets and if they get caught a second time mandatory jail time. The same applies to anyone abusing the H1 B program. For those that say these are jobs Americans won't do, they are just plain wrong. If we need seasonal workers, employers can bring them in on special visas. This is how it is done in Canada and Europe. But again, if they get caught cheating, jail. There are an estimated 22 million people who are living outside the law and creating an underground economy, they need to be processed and returned to their country. There are contractors who work in this country supplying documents and workers to factories, who work for under minimum wage and kick back parts of their salary so they can have an inside job for winter. Mr. Trump himself employs known illegals. I am a legal immigrant, I live in different countries, I don't overstay my visas, I keep my documents in order, I obey the law. It's not so hard. What people resent are the masses of people cheating the system. They wouldn't cheat if the people who employ them paid a penalty for abusing the system to get cheap labor. And democrats need a plan, or Trump will be elected again and there will be no America to fight over.
13
The writer is incorrect. On the august streets of the Upper West Side, in the halls of Ethical Culture, in Pacific Palisades and Westwood, and at Harvard-Westlake, there are no bad impacts of illegal immigration. Only cheap labor. For the rest of us searching for a decent-priced apartment, or a summer job for our kids, or a safe neighborhood with some social capital, or an uncrowded emergency room, or a public school classroom where art and music have not been squeezed out by ESL, forget it. Legal immigration good. Illegal immigration bad. This, trade, and Middle East policy are Trump winners. He should run on them in 2020, and forget everything else.
14
I think the writer is wrong. Trump turns off a lot of people and they voted for democrats not they rejected Trump's immigration polices but because they did not like Trump at all. I think most Americans mostly agree with Trump on immigration and many commenters here.
Trump of course takes it too far when he separates kids from their parents. I think we should focus on our people in America so that they will not be displaced by lower wage immigrant labor.
NYT is very wrong on immigration. They put sad immigration stories but many of our people also have sad stories and we should help them.
13
One notable fact re the NYT's feedback on articles regarding immigration: Considering that the majority of NYT readers are generally more liberal and anti-Trump in their sentiments, it's telling that Trump's hardline immigration stance resonates and garners so much support in the Comments sections of said articles.
After all, virtually everything else that's Trumpian related, gets bombarded with disparaging commentary and vehement disagreement.
But not when it comes to tougher immigration.
So considering the disdain for Trump, that says volumes.
17
I still cannot believe this philandering, criminal, luddite is the President of the United States. Of course he thinks he is winning and no one would dare tell him he's not.
2
Are you referring to Bill Clinton??
6
A: He is.
He is still winning. Even when many of his public acts and positions (e.g. the tax cut act) turn me off, I am 100% behind him on immigration.
He will continue strong unless Mueller comes up with a criminal offense traceable to him. And then, President Pence.
15
Immigration is the tie that binds him with his base. The law is closing in on him, most of his other policies are in shambles and this is a (so far) guaranteed crowd pleaser of an issue. It really is that simple.
4
Nobody likes Trump's cruel immigration antics, but nobody can call him soft on borders, can they?
Americans want tough border control. They see "undocumented workers" for what they are: "illegal aliens" who have broken the law, who place their children into already crowded public schools, compete for jobs, overwhelm municipal services, individuals who - no matter how decent and hard working - can't possibly "contribute more than they take out," being paid at or under minimum wage, often off the books.
Illegal immigration is today's "outsourcing." It keeps wages down for the poor, and profits up for the rich. 25% of all Texas construction workers and 1/8th of all Los Angeles public school students are here illegally, just two examples of the cost of illegal immigration.
Pop quiz: is the quest for a $15/hr minimum wage helped or hindered by an endless supply of desperate, unskilled labor pouring over the border? How do 11 million illegal aliens factor into "free college?"
But we're not allowed to talk about costs. We must "celebrate" them or be denounced as "bigots."
Europe's open border elites are currently learning the hard way that they can no longer slander and stifle away their opponents. So will America's.
Imagine a non-demagogue, a decent, intellectually honest, politically brave, economically populist Democrat taking borders seriously and relating it to directly to the restoration of the American middle class.
21
Trump is winning because he’s right. Illegal aliens are ... illegal - and should be deported. Legal immigrants are ... legal - and should stay.
Only liberals find the concept difficult to grasp.
17
As more information becomes available regrading the methods that Russia has used to target and highlight ethnic divisions in the US, it finally dawned on me that our President is a living and breathing Russian bot.
2
Sooner or later even the dimmest people catch on. In fact, the dimmest burn brightest with anger once they discover they were being played for suckers. But catching on takes time, especially when the swindler is a movilng target.
By the same token, swindlers are mindful of being discovered, which is why they are constantly in motion, ceaselessly working at their misdirection of the suckers.
Will Trump create a new game, a new straw man, before his suckers figure out immigrants aren't the invading enemy? THAT is why we should fear. Is there a new cudgel in Trump's hands, hidden from view, for his use in reigniting his suckers before they have time to catch on? THAT is the question of the moment.
We shall see. And because suckers are born and reborn every minute, I'm not optimistic.
3
When Americans voted for his wall nonsense in 2016 it was because he promised it wouldn't cost them a cent; the Mexicans would pay for it. Now we're learning that it will cost taxpayers billions.
Trump can pay for the wall out of his own pocket. He's rich, isn't he?
4
@Charlesbalpha
No, this one he can pay from the government fisc. Works for me.
6
Even if Matt Barreto's research & conclusions are correct, if he skims though the comment thread he'll find an unmovable group of zealots who hate immigrants so profoundly that they would spit blood if ever Congress delivered a policy that didn't rely on state-sanctioned violence, prison & deportation.
As their their spiritual leader & idol, Stephen Miller, makes plain every time he opens his mouth, the zealots aren't interested in any solution that permits immigrants to enter the country.
Luckily for immigrants--and the rest of us--the zealots are a minority. And despite all the furious noise they make, they will become a smaller & smaller minority with every passing day. America survived the Confederacy and the Klan. It will survive these haters, too.
3
Illegals - not legal immigrants
10
The editors of the New York Times need a little intellectual rigor when dealing with someone like this essayist.
He should be asked: Does he support the US having 22 million illegal immigrants (according to a recent Yale study) and if so, why? As more are arriving every day, is there any limit to the number of illegals US taxpayers should be willing to support?
Because his syllogism - Democrats won some House seats, largely in California and New York, therefore those supporting unlimited illegal immigration are winning - is flawed.
For those of us who support a country governed by rule of law and who are tired of paying for an overwhelming tide of illegals from Mexico and Central America, we might not vote for Trump (I didn't) or even Republicans (I don't typically.)
But that doesn't mean we aren't furious and frightened by the inability of our government to stop a parasitical assault on our borders.
25
Americans elected Mr. Trump due, to a large extent, because of his stance on immigration (against!). And Republicans lost a few in the House but gained seats in the Senate. Liberals love to gloss over that.
Trump still thinks he's winning on immigration. Yes! But you, Mr. Baretto, see the reality that your filter allows. His supporters still support him, sorry to break it to you. And he will be re-elected. Try talking to more people outside your liberal bubble.
16
Trump-ism will lose on the pure strength of numbers, old white men and women are dying off.
2
"Latino America: How America’s Most Dynamic Population Is Poised to Transform the Politics of the Nation.”
America's Latino population constitutes a new underclass, much of it present in this country due to illegal "immigration" and the continuing lunacy of Birthright Citizenship.
In California, 60% of the K-12 population is Hispanic and only a third meet California state school standards. I looked at the data on SNAP/Foodstamps and every single congressional district in the state has more Hispanics on SNAP than not. 60% of the non elderly on Medicaid in the state are Hispanic.
Nothing like a burgeoning population of poorly educated entitlement collectors to add to the fortunes of a first world economy. And, to think, much of it is due to illegal "immigration" on a massive scale, over decades.
19
18% of Latinos polled say Trump has a positive impact on Latinos? The opioid crisis is worse than reported.
1
The question is simple: Do you support the law, or those who break the law? Do you believe in national sovereignty (i.e. borders), or anarchy (no borders)? Matt A. Barreto is trying very hard to make the case that Trump is failing, but no matter how much you dislike Trump, on this issue he's not failing at all. He is indeed winning (and appropriately so).
14
So strange that so many descendants of immigrants are so interested in pulling up the ladder now. There are only two groups of people in this whole country who aren't immigrants, descendants of the original inhabitants of these lands, and descendants of people who were once enslaved in these lands.
2
@Gita My family came here legally and met the requirements of the day. They did not break our immigration laws, complain that Americans did not speak Hungarian or expect welfare merely for giving birth on our soil.
8
So what's the Democratic plan on immigration? Still no answer. Trump really is winning on this issue.
14
The anti-Trump rhetoric is shameful. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 authorized about 700 miles of fencing along certain stretches of land between the border of the United States and Mexico. Obama, Clinton, Schumer and 23 other Democratic senators voted in favor of the act when it passed in the Senate by a vote of 80 to 19.
Now the wall is "immoral"?
The simple truth is that Democrats just want unchecked immigration to widen their electoral base.
14
A Honduran woman who was repelled, with teargas, from illegally crossing the border has been admitted with her 5 children for processing. Honduras is vastly overpopulated as are El Salvador and Guatemala. Every environment has limited resources. When a population grows too large for its environment, people end up struggling over resources.
While scholars cannot say just what brought the great Mayan civilization to an end, they all seem to agree that overpopulation was a main factor.
Mayans continue to have too many children. The teargassed woman already has 5 children. How many more will she have? How many will each of her children have? While the U.S. is a vast country, much of it receives little rain. Our underground aquifers are running low. We already have the 3rd highest population in the world. We simply cannot absorb many more people, especially those who tend to have many children.
Instead of encouraging their excess populations to move to the U.S., Hondurans Salvadorans and Guatemalans need to seriously talk about reducing the number of births in their countries. If they would like, we could send them peace corps volunteers who would explain family planning, and we could make birth control widely and cheaply available.
Most Hondurans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans attend school for only 4 years. We could also offer help in areas like education.
What we cannot do is absorb their excess populations.
18
I would venture to say that no one is for open borders. Some people might want to see more people allowed in than others might want to see allowed in - we need a sensible immigration policy along with sensible environmental policies, energy policies, banking policies, healthcare policies.... hmmmmm
it comes down to "follow the money" on all these issues and until we get rid of Citizens United and allowing lobbyist to become elected officials and elected officials to become lobbyist, and gerrymandering and our politicians use words like WIN and LOSE not right and wrong and if this so called "Christian" country ever acted Christian.... or had any real set of ethics we really could make America great again - I don't see any of this happening in my life time. I vote and I still believe that our government CAN work if only they would chose to!
1
Many commentators keep using the tired scare tactic, accusing Democrats of wanting open borders.
If that's really the case then why did Obama deport record numbers of illegal immigrants? Why were the crossings at their lowest levels in decades under Obama?
The biggest question is why didn't Obama face criticism as Trump is facing over his record deportations?
Could it be that Obama didn't separate families? Could it be that Obama was following the law, and not trying to profit from the situation for his own political gain? Could it be that Obama didn't threaten to send Muslims to detention centers? Could it be that Obama was just smarter how he went about the business of running the office of President?
Could it be that Republicans need the issue so they need the lies about Obama and Democrats open borders, because they know they wouldn't win without the open border drivel?
Sure it could.
1
@Martin
Obama didn't deport record numbers. He changed the scorekeeping to count turn arounds at the border as deportations. The actual number of people truly deported, as in caught and sent home from the interior of the country, was very small under Obama. That fed the narrative down through Central America that getting in meant you could stay, unmolested.
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-deportations-20140402-story.html
11
This is manipulation at work. Trump, like other would be dictators, loves to create entire classes of enemies by using the broad brush of "all." All immigrants are... All Muslims are... All reporters are... All democrats are... and the list goes on forever.
Americans are angry about a lot of stuff. Trump has managed to focus that anger onto his targets. His rallies are manipulation sessions where you get to vent your rage where Trump wants you to vent. It feels good, it is cathartic, even if what you are really angry about is never addressed.
The problem people crossing our borders are the drug dealers and gangs that go with the drugs. Yeah, we're angry and scared (justifiably so) but we forget that Americans (and many who attend Trump rallies) buy those drugs and we spend in excess of $10-Billion annually on them. As long as that kind of demand persists, no walls, no patrols, nothing is going to stop the cartels and gangs from coming here to sell the drugs that Americans are willing to pay big dollars to obtain.
Most of the people coming to America are trying to escape the cartels who have destroyed their homelands. They aren't the drug dealers or gang members, they are the victims of Americans with a bad drug problem.
He IS winning on Immigration. Two of His Three wives are immigrants. There really ARE some Jobs that Native born Citizens just won’t DO.
2
The belief that immigration laws should be enforced and that citizen majorities in democracies should have a self determination choice, a right to decide who and how many foreigners enter and remain in their societies is NOT racist, or xenophobic, but rather in accord with the natural right of all human communities to territorial sovereignty. And the people in northern Mexico now suffering the anarchy, disruption and economic cost of the organized Caravan invasion of the United States are also daily asserting their rights against being invaded by those from further south.
20
A shut down and a wall are not on my holiday list. Can Trump be shut down for some holiday peace.
Rather than a wall, has our government reviewed what devices other countries are developing which can shut us down, kill millions and destroy our democracy and our freedoms without even one person coming over our borders.
1
This op-ed expresses a view which is not supported by the majority of the American public, including the New York Times' very own readership. It is out of sync with how 80% of Americans feel about the current immigration crisis (according to polls like Axios, for example). For all the ridicule regularly heaped upon people like Stephen Miller or Tucker Carlson, it is their statements -- not this op-ed -- which reflect the true mood of the electorate. Democrats are rooting for illegal aliens, rather than US citizens. Illegal immigration and the caravans are not only criminal, but they also cause death (as in the case of that 7-year-old girl). Many liberals are starting to wake up to this propaganda. Hillary recently admitted that "immigration roils the body politic," and none other than Chris Cuomo of CNN recently reprimanded the organizers of the caravans, probably to the dismay of CNN.
19
This is great news, I hope Trump keeps it up. One thing that is saving us from the most hideous possibilities of a government turned fascist, is that Trump is remarkably unintelligent. He is incapable of grasping reality or focusing on anything for more than twenty minutes. Thus, he can't see what's going on or why he keeps losing, and so we will be spared the worst that Trump could cause.
So I hope he keeps it up, and, in his usual style, doubles down on his idiocy. If his ads in 2020 include images of two year olds being tear gassed, that would be terrific. If he comes out with a campaign, "if you're not as white as this sheet of paper, we're going to eliminate you", that would be just perfect.
Trump remains a despicable hypocrite, and a racist, in a country made up of immigrants, documented or not. He has adopted a fairly common position of begging to be accepted (his parents) into the country, and then shutting the door for anybody new, especially if invested with the wrong skin color.
As always, consider the source. Illegal immigration is not a racial issue. If you believe in a secure border, you are not a racist. Ignore the leftist propaganda.
28
As long as Republicans think that walls, tear gas, and troops are the best defense rather than the longer-term solutions of addressing poverty and violence in Central America, and as long as they pretend that anyone - anyone! - is in favor or "unlimited immigration" or "open borders," we will continue to wrestle with this problem.
The problem is real. Rhetoric, short-term "Solutions," and blame games by partisan conservatives get us nowhere.
Of course we need enforcement. No one denies that. But we are America and a degree of compassion is part of our history. Alas, long-term planning appears not to be part of our current way of dealing with things.
Large problems need an array of measures. We could:
- Ameliorate poverty and violence in Central America via economic aid coupled to instance on reform.
- Find ways to discourage the hiring of illegals.
- Streamline the application process for entry or refusal by
- increasing personnel to process applications.
3
@Nathaniel Brown
The long term solution to people robbing 7-11's in the inner city is undoubtedly to make the inner city more prosperous, but, in the meantime, we protect 7-11's from being robbed and prosecute robbers.
8
Out-sourcing and automation have displaced many unskilled and low skilled workers, including many Black Americans. So many illegal immigrants are here competing with Americans over the remaining jobs, that employers have been able to lower wages and ignore unsafe working conditions. The Harvard economist George Borjas found that Black employment dropped as the number of illegal immigrants increased.
Illegal immigrants also crowd classrooms, medical clinics, public transport, and parks in lower income neighborhoods. Paying little in taxes, the illegal immigrants use resources that would otherwise be going to citizens. Illegal immigrants also take much of the affordable housing off the market. Many Black Americans see themselves being left behind while the media focuses on helping those who are here illegally.
Native Americans are also being forgotten.
Advocates of illegal immigrants try to get support from Blacks and Native Americans by saying they they are like most of the illegal immigrants in being "persons of color”. But, the reality is that illegal immigrants take jobs, housing and other resources from our Black and Native American citizens.
Many Black and Native Americans might have voted against Trump and the GOP for other reasons, but agree with him when it comes to illegal immigration.
30
There are so many important issues to consider when deciding whom to vote for. As an independent, I agree with the Democrats on climate change, gun control, and many other matters, but I agree with Trump on the need to control our borders. If voters could vote on a referendum just on illegal immigration, most of us would vote against continuing our current policies. We would vote to keep migrants from illegally moving here.
Polling shows anger against illegal immigrants is the one issue that unites most Republicans. Trump hoped that Independents and Democrats were also angry enough with our current “open border policies” that they would overlook their anger with his approach to other matters. While many Independents and Democrats do agree with Trump on immigration, their anger towards him on other matters (and on his style of governing) was too high to outweigh their agreement with him on immigration.
21
I suspect that concern about healthcare, the Supreme Court, and the health of our democracy played a much greater roll in the Democrats' big win in the house than did feelings about immigration. Two major polls this year--a Harvard [University]-Harris poll and an Axios poll found that a strong majority of Americans favored less immigration (less than half as much legal immigration as has been the norm for the last two decades) and strict enforcement of immigration laws.
While I strongly favor reducing immigration to a quarter of current numbers, and strict enforcement, I gave money to Democratic candidates in close races because I'm more concerned about the survival of our country's democracy under Trump and the current crop of Republicans.
Trump doesn't care about reducing immigration. If he did, he'd push for a national, mandatory E-VErify, which hundreds of thousands of companies use, and which catches visa overstayers, who represent 40% of illegal immigrants. But he blusters to his base about the wall, which will never get built, and about the alleged faults of immigrants. But ever since he chose Mike Pence, he's been a tool of the Koch Brothers, who like the cheap, exploitable labor.
As for the writer, it's obvious from his affiliation with Latino Decisions that he's got a major bias in this case.
17
@David Holzman, Trump, who is admittedly a total disaster in more ways than one, did, in fact, support bills introduced in both the US Senate and in the House of Representatives that would have created national, mandatory E-Verify. I.e., the legislation introduced by Senator Grassley earlier this year; and the Goodlatte bill in House of Representatives. Not a single Democrat signed on to support either bill.
The strange and unfortunate reality is the Democrats are just as aligned with the Koch Brothers and Chamber of Commerce on the issue of immigration as someone like outgoing speaker Paul Ryan.
7
@GRH
When several communities in California passed ordinances requiring employers to use eVerify, California, controlled by the Democrats, passed a law forbidding any such ordinances. This law is still in effect.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/16/local/la-me-e-verify-20111017
10
Would it not be a better idea to take that so called wall money to open more processing places so that asylum seekers could be processed more efficiently? We need to feel proud of ourselves again. We need to help these folks as we have always done. Let them in, help educated them and get them on the positive road to being productive US citizens.
Right now, we are just building up hate and resentment and encouraging the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere. The young folks here will not forgive or forget their unkind treatment. We can do smarter and better!
1
@Sandra "We need to help these folks like we've always done." Asylum for domestic violence and gangs is an entirely new concept. The US has no obligation to take people because they have a bad husband or dangerous neighborhood. Tens of millions of Americans live with these realities. Where is their asylum?
17
It's reported that the father of the 7yr old that died--doesn't blame Border Patrol. But---But he had signed a form -written in English-that his daughter was in good health. This man's main language is Q'eqchi' and second is Spanish. The Border Patrol read it in Spanish. ?? How is this for clear communication. Heinous how communication isn't even a priority. No child should suffer this- immigration standards must be improved. Let them wait out in sanctuary in their own countries while starting the process.
4
The father is responsible for his daughter's death
6
There's no real need to read this whole article. The first line says it all. No, not that first line. This one:
"Mr. Barreto is a political scientist at U.C.L.A."
Just use your imagination. I'd bet just you imaging what this piece is will be 90% accurate. I know mine was spot-on.
Though when I got to the part where he admits he has his own firm "Latino Decisions" I have to admit I made that face where you kind of knowingly grin, like "Yep. Yep, I called it."
So, if anyone is looking at comments before reading the article for some reason, don't sweat it. This is a piece written by a professor of Chicano studies from UCLA. It is 90% exactly what you are likely to imagine it to be. Just close your eyes, go "hmm" and exercise your imagination, and then switch to another tab on your browser. There's nothing new here.
26
The problem with our election system is that a person has to vote for a candidate who will represent him or her on multiple issues. The chances are that no candidate represents the voter’s views on every major issue. There are a great many people who usually vote for the Democratic candidate, but who agree with Trump on immigration. These Democrats agree that illegal immigration must be stopped. Even though a good many Democrats agree that our current immigration policies are not good for the country, they disagree with Trump on so many other issues ranging from gun control to the environment to the tax bill that they could not vote for the GOP.
If we could vote on single issues, the vast majority would vote against illegal immigration.
13
I recall the NY Times has done some good analysis pieces in the past on the history of anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner sentiment in America, the details of immigration law including needed revisions, changing immigration demographics, etc. I'd like to see more of that.
Clearly we need more immigrants not fewer. People like Laura Ingraham would prefer that all Americans look and think like herself, a frightening thought. Diversity is so much better, so much healthier.
5
@David Greenlee
How many people do you think the US can support in an environmentally sustainable manner? Bear in mind that climate change is reducing the nation's carrying capacity. And remember that the average immigrant's greenhouse emissions rise fourfold after arrival here, as most of them come from countries with low per capita emissions. And that at the current rate, we add more than half a New York State equivalent per decade.
16
@David Holzman
Well, for myself personally, and my thirtysomethingish kids, I need more young immigrants to come in and get jobs and pay taxes so I can continue to get medicare and social security checks. You have a point about environmental burden I suppose, but I can't see building Donald his wall as a sensible way of limiting greenhouse gas emissions. To solve that one we'll need a lot more honest rational thinking and perhaps a miracle.
1
@David Greenlee
The wall is just plain stupid. If Trump really wanted to stop immigration--he doesn't, he's a tool of the Koch Brothers--he'd push for a national, mandatory E-Verify. Its used by hundreds of thousands of companies and catches visa overstayers, unlike a wall.
As for Medicare and Social Security, I'm just as concerned about them as you are. But immigration is a net fiscal drain
http://cis.org/NAS-Study-Workers-and-Taxpayers-Lose-Businesses-Benefit
and besides, both the NYT and the NYer have run articles predicting that AI will be taking over about half of all US jobs over the next 20 years.
5
I voted for the Dems in the last election. I did so based on the need for better environmental regulations. I did not do so based on the Dem's constant demands for open borders. Dems should not interpret my vote that way. Trump is wrong on nearly everything but he's totally right on immigration. We do not need yet more unskilled Latino laborers with large families even they have laughably decided to call themselves refugees.
21
@Required What Democratic Party demand for open boarders? The vast majority of Dem politicians support expansion and speeding-up of the immigration application process for legal immigration and asylum based on documented proof of persecution. Instead of listening only to the distorted "facts" of Trump and his minions as to the views of Dem politicians, I suggest you examine their actual views.
4
@Alan Mass Keith Ellison walked around with shirt that said I don't believe in borders -- in Spanish of course. Open borders is a constant theme in this paper all the time.
The Dems believe our priorities should be about importing yet more low skilled workers who burden local communities in order to troll for votes. They also believe that asylum seekers should be anyone who doesn't make as much money as they want in their own home nations.
I have examined their views. I am just as informed as you are. This kind of belief system that everyone who does not agree with the Dems on immigration is simply stupid is why the Dems are not trustworthy on this issue.
7
@Required, both parties unfortunately get it wrong. The Democrats pretend to be pro-environment and are, in some ways, regarding some environmental regulations (and also via increased support for family planning, both domestically and internationally, an issue intrinsically related to the environment). On the other hand, the Democrats support turbo-charged population growth to the United States via de facto open borders and unlimited immigration, including illegal.
The GOP unfortunately supports gutting environmental regulations and support for family planning; and is divided on the issue of enforcing immigration laws and reducing population growth. Between a wing that supports everything recommended by President Clinton's Bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform (aka Jordan Commission), including reducing immigration; and the Koch Brothers/Chamber of Commerce wing that has repeatedly allied with the Democrats to prevent any immigration reform other than proposals for unlimited amnesty.
3
I for one do not want open borders unlike Democrats who do. Up to now, our immigration laws are being violated. Border security is a farce given the # of immigrants crossing illegally. Drugs are pouring through and it is a fact that criminals are also coming through. A wall works. That is a very proven fact in Israel as well as those areas along our border that have walls.
Just a few years ago, Schumer, Clinton and Obama advocated for a wall. Now they have changed their tune just because it is politically expedient. Shame on them.
Allowing millions of poorly educated, low skilled immigrants to come into our country does not bode well for economy and our own poorer citizens who desperately need work and medical care. Open borders policy advocated by Democrats would mitigate benefits to Americans as such benefits are diverted to non-citizens. There already is a strain on our health and educational system. Who will fund this.. American taxpayers?!!
25
What is the Dems argument FOR endless illegal immigration?
22
@kb
What is the Republican argument for protecting an idiot at the head of the government?
1
" In the 2017 election for governor of Virginia, the Republican candidate, Ed Gillespie, tried this same playbook, and it resulted in backlash from Latino and black voters, and no net gain in turnout or Republican votes from whites.”
Gillespie forced the Democrat to change his stance on sanctuary cities from favoring them to being against them. At the beginning of the campaign, the Democrat was in favor of having sanctuary cities where the police would not turn illegal immigrants who had been convicted of crimes over to ICE. Gillespie ran ads linking the Democrat with the Central American gang MS-13. A poll found that on the issue of safety that voters preferred Gillespie.
The Democrat then changed his position on sanctuary cities. The 11/6/17 New Yorker article titled "How the Gang MS-13 Became a Trumpian Campaign Issue in Virginia” says, "Last month, during a debate, he [the Democratic candidate] queasily conceded that he wouldn’t support sanctuary cities if they existed in Virginia, and, last week, he backtracked further. “I’ve always been opposed to sanctuary cities,” he told a reporter. If a bill banning sanctuary cities came to his desk, he would sign it as governor, he said.
In conclusion, the author of this opinion column has conveniently left out the fact that the Virginia Democrat had to completely change his stance on sanctuary cities to get elected.
11
So what is, or should be, our immigration policy? We can’t take everyone! Trumper’s are too xenophobic, mainstream republicans show too much deference, and Democrats are only good at casting shade. All past attempts have failed. Please give us a balanced, enforcible, lawful, and workable solution.
7
The author of this opinion piece uses the term immigrants when illegal immigrants or illegal aliens is the correct term to describe those coming across our border illegally. Fact is the great majority of illegal aliens in our country are of hispanic origin so opposing their presence here doesn't equate to racism, fact is that's just who they are. The kind of border security an impenetrable wall would provide would go far to end the problem of catch and release while illegals wait for their day in immigration court often years after illegal entry. Why don't we want illegal aliens here? There are a thousand answers and they're all right. No American should be taxed to fund any aspect of the lives of illegals but we all are to the tune of billions of our dollars per year. There is absolutely no fairness in an America where part of the population lives by the rules of society but another illegal part lives off the largesse of those who do. Build the wall no matter who pays for it and deport all illegals.
16
An intelligent piece!
5
"Trump Thinks He’s Still Winning on Immigration"
The media still thinks Trump cares about policy.
2
Stephen Miller is the perfect spokesperson to represent this administration's war on immigrants. I hope to see him lots more on TV because his unhinged rants provide Americans with deep insight into the corrosive and racist soul of the republican party. He can motivate lots of new voters to the polls in 2020, insuring that the broken republican party is sent packing for good.
9
When a little girl dies while in federal custody and the first response of the government is to say it isn't responsible, you have to know we are in a very bad place.
3
Donald caved on the wall. Evidently no one lined up behind him. The meeting with NanChuck was a promotion for the real show, coming in January.
Donald is nothing if not a promoter.
The concept is sovereignty.
We are a country founded and developed on immigration. Immigration is a good thing. Illegal immigration is a bad thing. Legitimate "asylum" is necessary. Masking illegal immigration as asylum is intellectually bankrupt.. Border security and visa security are absolutely necessary. Border walls required or necessary-TBD by security experts. 20+ million illegal immigrants is just foolish. Not difficult concepts to grasp.
Stop the name calling and racist accusations to have a legitimate discussion. Good people stay. Bad people get deported. Fix the system, its been broken long enough. Stop illegal immigration.
11
Big problem for the Dems is that there are a lot of 'closeted' wall supporters. Nobody today will admit they're against illegal entrants in fear of being labeled as a racist. So they all just hide it instead and clandestinely vote for Trump. Yup, it's true.
12
The Democrats want to make the illegal immigration issue about Mexican and Central Americans. It is not. It is about securing our border and processing immigrants legally, just as other countries around the world do. Scale all of this down to having 25 people show up at your doorstep right before you set down to supper. You may be able to accommodate 2 or 3 of them but certainly not all. So some come in through the basement window at night while you're asleep. What do you do? The sanctity of your home is no longer recognized or supported. That's OK? Really?
18
Winning Formula: Progressive (Claw back unearned wealth inequality) and tighter immigration.
I wish a politician would embrace these policies
You see, immigration, especially of the low-skill end works against inequality and against what progessives want.
11
Being white and center - right doesn’t make me a racist because I have issues with what’s happening along our border. Of course building a wall in certain areas would help, of course unfettered illegal immigration is a problem, of course most immigration from C America is economic and should be accepted as such.
46
@FDB No. Most immigration from Central America is due to the extreme violence in countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The police in those countries are both unwilling and unable to control the drug cartels and gangs. There is a large increase in the percentage of people who come to the US on a tourist visa and overstay their visas. Many of those people are coming from Europe and Asia. The border wall will not do anything to curb that issue. Our immigration system is broken. We need comprehensive reform, but Trump and his allies would rather blame people with darker skin or people of a different religion.
16
@FDB
Amen brother!
9
@FDB
And has been said, many times, no one is in favor of unfettered immigration, or "open borders" or any of the other lies projected by DJt's propaganda machine, either in the WH, on Sunday talk shows or the "normal" outlet of Fox News.
Years ago, even Marco Rubio presented what many considered a good start to a compromise on immigration. The Democrats did as well, but all were shouted down by the lunatic fringe on the right as cow towing and amnesty.
With the knowledge that China now has a dabbling interest in Central America advancement, just as they filled the vacuum left by the US in TPP, the Paris Climate treaty, automobile 'deals' and the Iran Accord, it appears the "72 year old going on 5" may have botched the job and painted himself (and us) in a corner.
But it all starts with believing his lies and not even half-truths like unfettered immigration.
14
Mexicans are coming to murder your kids, rape your daughters and taking over your jobs, that is essentially the Alt-Right message to middle class of this country. They have learned and understood this lesson from someone they (at least many do, if not all) admire. He wrote it and they followed it.
"The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses." - Mein Kampf
Hopefully, majority of this country who decent people, will eventually reject hatred in the name "Language, Border and Culture"
2
A few questions:
a) When did Latino become a Race ?
b) Why is supporting Immigration Reform held to
inherently racist ?
c) Why do 1/4th of Immigrants support Trump's policies ?
d) Can someone explain to me how the present lack of
Immigration Policy helps poor Americans ?
18
When the caravans number in the tens of thousands and they overwhelm the border crossings, we can thank Democrats.
15
@M
Due to the racist nature of this country called America, it will only be the truly desperate who want to be in the land of Jim Crow and Trump. Work long hours with barely enough money to live on, have your children put in cages or die in custody by the Federal government. Somehow America doesn't feel all that appealing to people who are not in fear of their lives.
Good job white people, minorities don't want to be around you either and they don't want to iron your shorts no mater how fancy the residence is.
@Tony really, and that is why we have 20+ Million pushing for amnesty to stay in this country. DACA, DAPA and "we all need to stay here".
1
We would never demand that the citizens of another country accept endless millions of uninvited foreigners into their nation.
Why should we in the US cheerfully acquiesce to 10s of millions of illegals from the south?
21
You wish. The dems will be swept out in 2020 along with their white man presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
4
It would be more honest if when the word 'immigrant' is used in these types of articles, they are identified as either 'legal or illegal' immigrants. There's an enormous difference.
Using them interchangeably discredits their argument entirely.
Calling all who are against more 'illegal' immigration racists defeats their argument even more. It is the immigration and migration problems that will eventually fracture the US.
19
It’s not opposing illegal immigration that gets folks called “racist.”
It’s the racism.
1
He *is* winning on immigration, if you poll his base, in places where the GOP has dominated for decades. But he's losing chunks of the electorate in places where he narrowly won in 2016.
2
If he thinks he's winning, he's deluded.
People continue to cross the border daily. There's very little enforcement of the current laws once you get outside the border region.
The Democrats have successfully blocked further border enhancement (wall) and many call for complete disbandment of any enforcement force (Abolish ICE).
I don't see any evidence of a return to law and order any time soon.
4
I am a 34 year old wannabe immigrant. I came to this country as a graduate student in engineering , went to a top 15 school and got my masters. I then worked on my OPT and now work on a H1B for a well known tech company. 7 months back I married my wife a US citizen after we dated for 1.5 years. Its been 7 months since marriage and USCIS has been stalling us from an interview raising trivial issues regarding my birth certificate which is not a fake. My wife went to a public Ivy school but became a teacher because of her strong sense of community and giving back to society. She is now starting to resent that very community. Because of their vindictiveness towards immigrants we cannot settle down, buy a house or have a life together despite playing by the rules. Lee Francis Cissna and Stephen Miller are strong advocates for playing by the rules but are they playing by the same rules and integrity-by changing rules overnight ,overruling legal precedent and suddenly changing laws without warning knowing very well the consequences. I am talking about LEGAL immigration.
79
@AK
I am a legal immigrant.
I have worked my way up from housekeeping and trash removal, to running and managing import companies.
I met my wife 5 years ago, herself also an immigrant that started at the bottom.
We are able to accomplish most of the American dream, most. We cannot rent an apartment in NYC because credit of 700 and salary of 100k+ is considered low; we cannot buy a house because I lost one 4 years ago in the housing bust, after fighting to keep it for 7 years.
Otherwise, life is good.
I am an immigrant, a legal one. And other than the above, I have never been given a hard time because of being one.
22
@AK, You made the mistake of trying to play by the rules and doing the right things. If you just entered and stayed illegally, you'd have been untouched or just fine here.
If there's anybody you and your wife should be resentful towards it should be those who are here illegally.
16
@AK I'm sorry you and your wife have faced this. I know you'll make more of a contribution to America than most of Trump's supporters, if given a chance.
I once believed them when they said they only objected to "illegal" immigration. There's way too much evidence to the contrary now. They never meant that *at all.*
14
Trump will go on and on about "my big beautiful wall," because it's a simple image and Democratic leaders are weak in countering it with facts that show illegal immigration is down (under Obama) and not generating national problems.
If he doesn't get a wall at the top of impassable mountains and down the middle of the Rio Grande, Trump will say that any stray crime or economic downturn is the fault of its opponents.
If he gets more of a "wall," Trump will say "his wall" is the reason the non-existent crisis continues not to exist.
In Trump's genius mind, he can't lose.
3
I don't get the sense that Trump really cares about immigration. It always struck me as political fuel for his supporters. As long as he keeps talking about "walls" and points out the objections of his detractors, then he feels that he has all the political support he needs.
There is already plenty of fencing separating portions of the border that no one really talks about. If Trump had legitimate concerns and wanted stronger border security-- and perhaps a wall-- it would never have been a talking point to begin with, but rather something that went up quietly like the fences that already exist.
If he says he's winning, the sound bite will be played ad nauseum on Fox, and his base will swallow it hook, line and sinker!
1
How can letting in millions of uneducated, unskilled humans benefit the United States ? With the coming of more automation an A.I., millions of jobs will be wiped out. Our citizens without skills need the remaining jobs. Most of these immigrants and asylum seekers will just compete with working class citizens further destroying their wages and working conditions. Trump is scaring employers from hiring illegal aliens making it harder for non-citizens to get jobs, so wages for our lowest pay citizens are finally rising. People that would not even be considered for jobs are getting job offers and job training by the business that will hire them. Don't be a dupe for the business owners complaining about not finding workers. There are no worker shortages - only owners that don't want to pay more and don't want to hire older workers.
29
Trump doesn't hate immigrants, he hates illegal immigrants. One of the worries many people in this country have, is that democrats are simply unable to say no to ANYONE who tugs on their heart strings.
Politics in America have become way too extreme. Voters are probably feeling compelled to pin-ball back and forth between the two parties, hoping that there will be some sort of net cancellation.
11
The ties to home, to the place where one is born and raised, are strong. Most people do not casually emigrate. But if the choices are as stark as 'stay and be killed, 99% likelihood' or leave and hope for some slim chance of survival, people leave.
As a parent and grandparent I can, grimly, imagine myself in such a terrible situation.
As an employer here in Maine, I've had a number of employees over the past 20 years or so who are refugees from Rwanda and nearby countries. One showed me the scar from a bullet that tore through his lower leg. Others told me how more than half their relatives were butchered by machete-wielding neighbors. Another described students cowering in her high school as bullets ripped through the walls.
I really can't describe how sad it makes me to hear the anti-immigration ranting of our President and his ilk. Not a clue how lucky he is not to be in the shoes of the people he insults. What a despicable sorry excuse for a man.
7
@Old Mainer
You are conflating African refugees with those who are looking for economic opportunity (both welfare and a higher paying job). The economic opportunists claim to be fleeing violence, but the murder rates in Mexico and Central America are about the same as in several American cities. The murder rates in American cities would be higher had our medical system was not been able to save many victims. The Mexican and Central American migrants who come here, saying they are seeking safety, tend to settle in our crime-ridden cities.
Our refugee and asylum slots should be saved for people who are truly facing persecution, such as the Rwandans.
4
This Republican administration's inhumane separation of bawling infants from their anguished parents was many steps too far for midterm voters, but that doesn't mean that most Americans won't continue to be concerned about border security. Democrats have got to counter the idea — promulgated by right-wing media and totally accepted by Republicans of my acquaintance — that we are in favor of open borders.
3
@Karen What do you think happens to American citizen parents when they are arrested? Same thing. Why don't you have sympathy for your fellow countrymen?
4
The fear and loathing of minorities coming from the White House and the GOP does not attract those who aren't looking for fear and loathing. It actually deters, offends, and turns most people off. The problem is these people don't always vote. Voters (and non-voters) get what they deserve.
The title assumes a fact not in evidence: Trump cannot think because he has lost whatever ability he may have once had to think.
He only acts according to what his guts dictate, and he has lots and lots of guts. In every meaning of that word.
Trump could build 50 walls without increasing border security because the US does not have a comprehensive immigration policy that matches the reality of the needs of US employers and the needs of immigrants, those who have been here for years and the thousands yet to come.
The cruelty of Trump's enforcement of immigration regulations and laws is matched only by the poor results and the chaos of current Trump immigration enforcement. Deporting immigrant members of the military services and their spouses is an outrageous way to secure borders. Allowing employers (like Trump himself) to exploit immigrant workers and punishing the workers with deportation is a policy with failure built in. Most of what Trump does to enforce immigration laws rewards those who lie and cheat and punishes those who try to follow the rules.
Like so many areas of governing, Trump and his administration have made the borders of the US less secure while creating more anger among US voters who are enraged by a government which separates asylum-seeking families and gives profits to Trump cronies.
40
@Lynda
“ the US does not have a comprehensive immigration policy that matches the reality of the needs of US employers and the needs of immigrants, those who have been here for years and the thousands yet to come.”
What about the needs of ordinary Americans? Employers could raise wages and improve working conditions so that the millions of currently long-term unemployed Americans would be eager to take their jobs. About a fifth of Americans who are in their prime working years, between the ages of 25 and 54, are now among the long-term unemployed who have given up looking for work.
Employers, such as builders and meat packers, would rather hire cheap illegal immigrants who will not complain about unsafe conditions than pay honest wages to American citizens.
5
"It’s as though Mr. Trump continues to see himself descending that escalator in 2015 to bash Mexican immigrants."
And he descended that escalator right into the White House, when everyone on the left said he was wrong on immigration and that the demographics said he couldn't win. And don't conflate taking the House in 2018 with winning games the presidency in 2020. Just wait until Joe Biden or another mainstream Democrat starts winning caucuses and primaries; it will take the left 4 seconds to start whining about the process and complaining they should win and that the vote was stolen, suppressed, the scales tipped, etc. If you think the left will behave any differently in losing in 2020 than they did in 2016 you're kidding yourselves.
The worst possible thing we can do now is underestimate the guy that we underestimated right into the Oval Office.
6
This piece skirts the impact of the caravans. Caravans will continue and will surely become incendiary for the presidential election. Consider that had the caravan that is currently detained in Tijuana actually reached the US on or before election eve, the press coverage nationally, and thus the election results, would have been different. What is the Latinx view of these caravans that happen to be from countries where the Latinx community has small representation?
3
There have been caravans for years, but because we didn't have a racist president calling them dangerous invaders, no one really paid attention. These asylum seekers were simply quietly processed, and it was no big deal.
Illegal immigration has been at historic lows for the last 4-5 years. Why you and others like you are so frightened by poor people seeking asylum is a real head scratcher, but then, you probably don't live in a border town like I do, so you don't understand that these people are not a threat.
2
Trump will crush Dems on the messaging battle once again, and this article is making it easy. Sure, people are sad about family separations. Your readers might be at least. But most other Americans don't really care enough to vote for it over other policy positions.
The Dem party lost in 2016 by ignoring the effect of fear, and have done nothing on that front to solidify themselves as a party to be trusted on this issue since. Calls to abolish ICE, a refusal to entertain border security. While that might not be the position of the party, it is how the national audience perceives it.
The GOP wasn't exposed as racists in the 2018 election based on their campaign. If 2016 display that to you (or the decade prior), you were not watching. The GOP lost seats in 2018 for a myriad of reasons. Dems assuming it was because of Latino turnout is ridiculous in the national election scene.
Opposing the wall is fine. Not having a viable policy platform on immigration is not. White people are scared of immigrants. Whether it's racism or just being worried about losing opportunity, even if it is just perception, the Dems need to start understanding this. Open borders gave us Trump. They will give us him again if this continues. But please, keep saying Americans don't want security! Worked well last time...
34
@S.G.
Open borders did not give us Trump. The myth of open borders gave us Trump. Illegal immigration from Mexico has decline sharply. In 2000, there were 1.6 million apprehensions of illegal border crosses. That number declined to 0.13 million by 2017 because many fewer attempts were being made. At the same time the number of undocumented immigrants living in the US also declined and the number of deportations of undocumented immigrants increased. When you look at the FACTS rather than react to social media myths, it is clear that the issue was being managed and substantially improved during the presidencies of Bush and Obama, all without building an expensive, ecologically destructive medieval solution to a 21st century problem.
12
@MRod, voters will generally trust nonpartisan facts coming from well-reputed institutions such as Yale and MIT (or perhaps Pew Research Center). Yale and MIT's nonpartisan estimate released in September says there are between 16.9 million to 28 million illegal aliens currently in the United States. Pew said last month there are 10 million. I am not sure who is right (or why these figures are so significantly different) but even if it is "only" 10 million illegal aliens, that is an enormous number. Yale and MIT say it is millions more and most likely an average of 22 million. Current annual illegal immigration may have declined for a few years. But with numbers this high, open borders is no myth.
Also, speaking of ecological destruction, Arizona has estimated that over 2,000 tons of trash are left at the border every single year by illegal aliens.
2
@S.G.
"White people are scared of immigrants"
I'm white and I'm not scared of immigrants. Making broad generalizations like that will just make Democrats start losing elections again.
4
How about a federal biometrics identification system that all employers are required to use for new hires.? Any illegal that can prove they were hired without going through this system gets a green card, any employer that has said accusation proven against them gets a mandatory 6 year prison sentence. No wall, problem solved-- including for those illegals who are already here.
Sure, there would be whining from employers who are addicted to a cheap labor pool they can treat like garbage, but, without any other choice, they will have to pay whatever it takes to attract legal workers, and treat them well enough to keep them. Bottom line, the price of getting your roof replaced is going to go way up, but on the bright side, maybe it was done by someone who was previously counted among the ranks of long-term unemployed.
4
While Democrats are rightly angered by Trump's racism against immigrants generally and Latino immigrants in particular, the question remains what is the alternative from the Democrats?
Once you removeTrump's racism, there hasn't been much difference between the policies of Clinton, Obama and Trump.
All called for greater boarder security. Each requested and got more money from congress to hire more agents and supply them with sophisticated military style equipment.
Clinton and Obama opened numerous detention facilties. And the various stages of the current boarder fence were begun by Democrats.
There were some changes. Clinton threw the Haitians in detention while Cubans enjoyed the "wet foot dry foot" exception. Obama repealed that for the Cubans but Haitians did not fare any better.
Obama did add more judges to the Immigration courts and general principles of due process were followed. But Obama became known as the "deporter in chief" with numbers that surpassed Clinton and Bush.
So the real issue is do the Democrats have a comprehensive package for immigration reform? To be fair while the GOP controlled congress and the white house they never passed a new Immigration Bill.
Have the last midterm elections changed all that? We will see.
5
@drspock Obama and the Dems had an immigration reform policy, passed the bill implementing it bipartisan through the Senate, Boehner refused to take it up in the House even though, probably because the votes were there to pass it. Obama instituted policies to spend in Central America to try to alleviate the conditions causing the migrations, Trump of course is trying to end such aid. Immigration reform is only one piece of this non-crisis, and not the most important one. Unless and until the conditions pushing economic, environmental, and social violence refugees north are dealt with the flows will continue.
9
@drspock The monstrous policy of separating children from their families is indeed a major change from the Obama policies.
None of this absolves the Democrats of the need to develop a comprehensive immigration program that allows for leagal immigration but also protects the jobs of Americans and legal immigrants from unfair competition from people who are working illegally. In order to do this of course we would have to actually enforce our existing laws against hiring illegal immigrants and come up with a better way of identifying those with permission to work in this country.
Naturally there seems to be little appetite for this approach on either side.
34
It's not working any longer because anyone who is paying attention knows that it's the .1% that's taking our jobs and making us all poorer, not the class of immigrants that Trump and the GOP love to bash.
The class of immigrants that tops Trumps hit list take the jobs that most Americans refuse to work at in any case; agriculture, domestic services, jobs that involve toil and offer low pay with few benefits. Keeping these jobs unfilled hurts our economy overall.
The jobs Americans want are being automated at record pace, and worse still industries and technology firms are investing in AI to replace human involvement which could have vast implications for the future. The entire transportation industry could be targeted for automation which could eliminate tens of millions of pilots, railroad engineers, long haul and regional truckers, and delivery services of all types. The AI boon is mostly being funded by the GOP's corporate tax cut.
Most Americans have seen through the con and are no longer buying it.
21
If we could swap ten Hondurans for one Trump it would be a bargain.
7
Trump's racism and greed will only die with him. Trump will abuse immigrants for employment purposes and then hate them when he has no need for them.
He is too old to change and his heart is too consumed with greed and hate to heal. Trump reminds me of that line in the original Terminator movie staring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop...ever...."
21
Thank you Americans of Latino origins for voting in large numbers to try (notice I said try) to convince Trump to back off his hate of non-whites. Hopefully Americans of African descent will wake up and make sure they are registered to vote in the coming elections. We need all voters if we truly want to make America Work Again; we will never be one nation with all the hate that Trump aroused abounding in our lives. Luckily the border seemed to calm down after the election and most troops were sent back home, what a coincidence.
8
Deportations reached a record level in 2012 during President Obama's administration - he deported 409,849 people that year.
In 2018, that number had fallen to 256,000 immigrants.
Obama deported hundreds of thousands more immigrants during his four years than Trump ever will during his term in office.
The NYTimes doesn't mention this fact.
26
This column is not about how many are being deported. It’s about Latino citizens (aka Latino voters, not illegal immigrants), how they feel about the anti immigrant rhetoric spewing forth from Trump, and how that is subsequently affecting their voting behaviors. The deportation numbers may indicate that Trump, in addition to negatively affecting his own political future (as well as the political future of the GOP in general), is less effective in dealing with the illegal immigrants already in the our country. Or maybe all these years of increased deportations (including Obama’s administration here) has actually lessened how many are available to deport. Maybe Trump should declare victory and quit trying to drum up more anxiety about immigration. He likes to declare victory, actual success being somewhat irrelevant. Of course, he might have to let that campaign promise about his beautiful wall go. And poor Stephen Miller would be disappointed. He really likes picking on non-whites. Maybe he can figure out some new or expanded ways to attack other minority groups. Back to Muslims, or maybe Black Lives Matter?
2
I’m not tired of winning, but I am tired of illegal alien advocates whining. Despite the author’s shameful appeal to race, Americans do not hate foreign people of any color, but Americans absolutely despise cheaters, which is all the illegal aliens are.
The border wall has nothing to do with the one million foreigners who annually, legally immigrate to our country. Those people, who have shown respect for our rules and who have assiduously pursued the proper, legal route, are welcome. The lying, cheating, and trespassing foreigners who attempt to enter our country illegally are properly chastised, apprehended, and expelled from our country.
Conflating those two groups is intellectually dishonest, which tells us all something about the author and this paper.
73
@NorthernVirginia.....And it is also intellectually dishonest to say that anyone is opposed to border security or for illegal immigration, which is how anyone who opposes a wall is being portrayed.
47
@NorthernVirginia This anger against the "cheaters" is toxic and clouds the issue, which is immigration reform. Our current system, which creates the cheaters, is broken and needs to be fixed. The vast majority "cheaters" are actually contributing members or our community who should be allowed to continue to contribute legally. But the Republicans have continually undermined all attempts at reform and made the "cheaters" their whipping boy, solely for politics purposes. The author of the piece shows that this one trick pony is having diminishing returns.
16
@NorthernVirginia And when will you be tired of Americans and American companies that hire illegals which is a violation of immigration laws?
Illegals are not traveling the long and dangerous journey to our borders solely for the scenery. They come here for jobs.
And who are giving them jobs? Isn't hiring illegals against the law? Why should only brown people be prosecuted for immigration violations and not the white people who hire them?
Don't expect foreigners to follow our immigration laws when we don't follow them ourselves.
19
Barreto uses the tired and now essentially meaningless term "racist" three times in this article. It is no doubt gravely "racist" for any White person to wish even a single one of the 22 million illegals in the U.S. deported.
It is interesting that Barreto's firm, Latino Decisions, produces research that so precisely reflects his own politics: all immigration or illegal migration is good, and any opposition is "racist."
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@RE Ellis Our enforcement of immigration policies is racist because we only prosecute the brown people that violate immigration laws and not the white people who hire illegal immigrants.
5
@RE Ellis
White people voicing disagreement with the status quo re millions of undocumented (illegal) immigrants are often automatically labeled racists, thereby squelching any further discussion.
On the flip side, there are numerous posts on many NYT articles concerning immigration, whereby non-whites openly declare their preference for increased numbers of non-white immigrants and fewer white ones.
So why is it racist for white people to voice disapproval for illegal immigration, but no racism whatsoever being applied to non-whites who state their desires to make America less white?
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@RE Ellis
Fact of the matter is all immigration is good, because w/o immigration (legal or illegal) our economy wouldn't grow since there wouldn't be new people wanting to buy new stuff and willing to take the jobs, etc, etc.
A far bigger and real problem is rich people taking their money out of the economy.
1
Latino Decisions is a fascinating org: leading up to 2016 they touted a huge Latino voter surge that lulled Dem supporters into believing that FL was safe and maybe AZ or NC could be in play as a result.
These predictions were incorrect and Mr. Barreto engaged in a spirited defense of his polling shortly after 2016.
Mr. Barreto and other scholars like Mr. Tixeria (of the "Demographics is Destiny" school of thought from the early 00s) are obviously smart but their partisanship leaves a crucial philosophical question on the table: Could Latinos be turned into Republicans??
This question fascinates me as a Latino and depresses me as an observer of a GOP that seems determined to become the cartoonish incarnation Dems imagine it to be.
Cubans and Venezuelans in FL are GOP-leaners but that was the result of a HUGE effort on the part of the GOP in the 80s & 90s. This type of grassroots building requires a patience and hard work that GOP leaders, much less the pampered field staff of 20-something silver-spooners the GOP attracts, to undertake.
I'd wager 70% of Latinos could be great Republicans. 2nd generation Latinos have much to gain by becoming "good ones": largely supporting the existing white power structure and being welcomed in to enjoy 90% of its privileges.
Small-c conservative culture, Christianity and traditional gender roles are all omnipresent in Latino culture.
Dems are lucky beyond measure the GOP is so incompetent to miss this.
5
Trump lives in an unreality bubble where all he does is win -- on immigration, on the economy, on trade, on being the smartest man in the room. In fact, he is a loser, the biggest one of all. When he finally realizes it, the shock will be so great he will be dragged babbling incoherently in a strait jacket out of the White House. And good riddance.
3
Trump has never legitimately won anything in his life.
He is a con artist of the first degree.
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This braggart thinks he's winning on everything from A to Z. In reality he's delusional and in panic mode. In his warped mind he even declared victory after the midterm elections. He and his cohorts are a disgrace to our country. His disgusting rhetoric, chaos, divisiveness, distractions and temper tantrums are getting old and tiresome. We deserve far better than this. We look towards the Democrats to be our saviors.
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He’s winning the immigration debacle, while loosing support from the Liberals.
Wow. Such in depth journalism.
In other news, water is wet.
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Trump has not fulfilled one campaign promise that was supposed to help the 'left behind" because he only cares about himself.
He is most comfortable attacking those who have little or no ability to fight back. With Stephen Miller as his muse on the evils of immigration and Kelly in full support there is no one that dares tell him that his constant beating the anti immigrant tune on his drum is not helping him or his party.
Separating children from their parents was simply evil. Forcing asylum seekers to wait for months the border is a Kafka plot.
No one wants uncontrolled immigration. We need humane and fair immigration policies for we do need immigrants for many reasons.
Thank you for the summary of the trends and metrics. This is wonderful information, but it's information that won't penetrate Trump's bubble. Though their numbers are shrinking, his most devoted voters won't care, because their support for him is based on racism, not on fact. And he won't care, because he's a salesman, and in his world, numbers exist only as a sales tool.
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There is a large portion of our populace that has concern about immigration, whether the immigrant is brown, black or white.
This is not the 1800's where there is a large swath of land in this country with little or no inhabitants. Immigrants are not coming here to occupy parts of the country with a sparse population.
Immigrants are coming here hoping to find a decent job leading to a decent life. The job they are looking for is in a city where they will be competing for jobs against current citizens who are often members of some minority group.
Russia recognizes this potential friction between our present citizens occupying lower paying jobs and the immigrant who is seeking a similar job.
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@sbanicki Interestingly enough, CA & NY, 2 states with high concentrations of immigrants, are not anti-immigrant. Quite the opposite.
1
Speak for yourself. I am anti illegal immigrant
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Don't impeach Trump. Let him continue to mess up the Republican Party.
Let him rail about immigrants to smaller and smaller crowds. Let him continue to think he is winning. He's so delusional that he'll continue to think that, as long as a few Fox News people tell him he is. Let him shut down the government to have his temper tantrum about the wall.
All Democrats should do is stand back and let him fail. And in two years go back to places where Trump won. Some voters will change back to the Democratic Party, and many will just go back to not voting.
And come up with a sensible immigration plan and philosophy. Tell people on the left who advocate open borders to go away. Americans want a sensible plan that reinforces an orderly process. They don't want people sneaking across the border, and they don't want the army to be holding desperate people. Find a sensible middle ground that most people can agree with--a policy that follows the rule of law, one that is fair to immigrants who have gone through the legal process, and one that is compassionate.
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@Dan Your last paragraph is the missing link: that follows the rule of law, one that is fair to immigrants who have gone through the legal process, and one that is compassionate.
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@Dan Sorry, Dan, but in the meantime, Trump is doing an amazing amount of damage to the country at large. Deregulating corporations, destroying environmental regulations that give us clean air and water, stacking courts with partisan Republican judges, etc. We simply can't allow him to continue to do this for another 2/4 years. Immigration is only one issue. As a democrat I support legal immigration although Trump's supporters would deny that. But I am also watching everything he is ruining while his rallies scream at immigrants, legal or not.
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@ "Tell people on the left who advocate open borders to go away." You would be speaking to imaginary people, because there is absolutely no one on the left who advocates open borders.
Trump’s threat to shutdown the government over his “boarder wall” is a desperate attempt to shift attention from his deepening legal woes. He doesn’t care about any border wall. He never did. If Trump really wanted a border wall, he would have accepted the Democratic proposal for $25 billion in wall funding in exchange for a bipartisan DACA law.
It’s all a continuing Trump scam; a distraction from his problems and a rallying cry for his deplorable base. He argues for a wall but really doesn’t want it.
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Mr. Trump is wrong on the ethics and morality of his position. His actions are also illegal and Americans know this. He had several years of control in the House and Senate to enact a legal immigration bill but he, and the Republicans, chose to follow a bizarre reactionary path without thought or planning. The consequence has been death and imprisonment of children and innocents. Such actions cannot stand the test of time although his followers seem to enjoy this transient but immoral chicanery. Eventually, we will all see and hopefully understand how to keep delusional thinking out of the government.
This has to start with the Press and the presidential debates. The Press must probe policy questions and demand coherent answers. It must probe the historical knowledge base of the candidates and cannot accept answers that deflect and confuse. Only this will shine a spotlight on the buffoons.
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I have a difficult time naming any area where Donald Trump is "more trusted" than just about anyone else. In issues concerning immigration and foreign policy especially, I'd trust a plastic curtain rod before I trusted Donald J. Trump. He doesn't need to say anything. Trump begins in the negative before he even opens his mouth. I can't think of a single occasion where his international credit has improved after speaking either.
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While data may show that Trump's never-ending war on immigrants is having a negative affect, I place greater weight on other factors for this year's mid-term sweep in the House as well as the Democratic victories at the state level.
I believe that personal economics are the most critical concerns when it comes to voting. And as much as Trump hopes that voters are stupid enough to think that immigration is what ails us, voters put their own lives well ahead of any other critical issue.
And frankly, that is where I think the buck has stopped. And if you were to take away some serious flawed gerrymandered GOP districts, I think the backlash would have been even greater.
First, there are those that are living paycheck to paycheck and I highly doubt that they are yet able to put money aside for future spending. These voters might have in the distant past been able to save a few bucks, but today most likely are still trying to makes ends meet. They ask, where is my tax break payback and now realize not to hold their breath.
Next, there is the baby-boomer who is retired or near retirement and relies on government benefits and/or their retirement accounts. To them, the markets have great meaning.
Lastly, you have the business class and they hate uncertainty and realize that Trump is terribly uncertain. They might be reflecting on the question, would you let a guy like Trump run your company? Chances are that answer would be a resounding "NO"!
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It appears that part of Trump’s zeal in marginalizing immigrants and building a wall was to deflect from the real danger to our country from Russian trolls who had invaded our social media and were supporting him and his causes.The Russian threat was not immediately obvious but his vivid descriptions of diseased and drug selling immigrants was so dramatic that he drew focus away from the real problem.The Russians were coming across our borders not by land but by social media trying to disrupt our voting and legal system.Hope the Latino vote continues to increase as they realize that as citizens they have a stake in our democratic process.
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Reminds me of the joke about the blonde (man) feeding coins into the soda machine in the casino, happily watching the soda cans spill out. When asked what he was doing, he said, "Duh! I'm winning!!
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Apparently , the Russians can run a anti-immigration campaign more effectively than the Republicans.
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Latinos are not the only group that we should encourage to immigrate. Africa is afflicted with overpopulation, the Punjab, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan the rest of the Muslim world. And after our mixing in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan should we not be fast tracking the citizens of these countries into the US? Should we not be helping Europe with the millions of Muslim and African refugees. We have the space. The US is relatively underpopulated compared to the European countries. Unfortunately, the US did not sign the recent UN migration pact....because of Republican opposition to worldwide encouragement of migration. Only two countries......the US and Hungary did not sign it. 190 or do did. Hopefully, the next election will correct that so we can joint the rest of the planet.
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While the US is relatively underpopulated, we have a significant amount of land that is water-less, pretty much from Colorado south and west, or frozen wilderness in Alaska. And, Americans have shown they don't want to permanently live at significant densities. We value our personal space, our family space, and our natural wild space. You don't see forests in many countries like we have in the well peopled East, let alone the huge forests and parks out west.
We already are the most generous country in the world with regards to immigration. One million legal immigrants per year and at least 10 million illegal aliens we allow to stay unless law enforcement picks them up for a crime.
The solution to third-world over-population is birth control not immigration. Unfortunately, I think many countries will run out of water before they institute serious population control.
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@as
"We have the space."
America is already facing sever water shortages in some regions, diminished forests and wetlands - all on account of population control which is a significant factor for pollution and climate change.
A better idea is for the U.S. to freeze their war chest and divert much of this capital towards improving the plight of the inhabitants who reside in these troubled regions.
Calling for massive increases in immigration is not even a bandage solution, and will be of little benefit for these poor countries. If anything, it's proven to be a brain-drain that deprives said nations of the very people it requires to become self sufficient. solution.
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@as, Australia and Israel also did not sign the UN migration pact; or else just recently withdrew from it.
It would be much better to support increased family planning and birth control in the areas of the world that are so dangerously overpopulated and continue such high birth rates. Following a policy of trying to import so many more people seems like a bad idea, that will only empower more future "Trumps," especially when the United States already has the most generous legal immigration policies in the world, with over 1 million people per year (not counting annual illegal immigration either, which Yale/MIT now says amounts to an estimate 16.9 to 28 million people).
The solution is not to emulate the population density of India or China and bring that here. The solution is to support family planning and reducing population growth elsewhere.
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This might be the beginning of a California moment when the republicans voted for prop 186. This infuriated the latino voters and signaled the end of the republican party in this state. Hopefully the same is happening now. To the republicans, goodbye and good riddance.
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Midterm voters, in voting for democrats, did not necessarily refute Trump's immigration policies. Here in Florida I voted for every democrat on the ballot except for governor, but I absolutely love Trump's immigration policies. I voted against republican Rick Scott because I think he's a crook from his days in the health care industry, and I voted against Francis Rooney because of his house votes against the ACA. BTW, Scott and Rooney are neighbors in the wealthiest section of one of the wealthiest cities in America, and I absolutely abhor plutocrats.
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@Jim Tagley
Thank you, Jim, for making that clear. There is no constituency that you would call pro-immigration outside of Democratic primary voters. There is a big center vote that wants a well-managed, sensible system, and feels no animus to immigrants in general, but any politician advocating open borders or banning immigration enforcement is running contrary to the overall mood of the public. Illegal immigration and illegal immigrants are never going to have popular support in this country. Don't underestimate the latent law-and-order vote -- no matter how good their intentions or behavior, those who immigrated illegally broke the law, and a majority of Americans will not simply forgive them for that.
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@Tom Depends on whether they can afford to get new roofs on their houses, domestic help, fruits and vegetables, roads repaired, dinners out, rooms in hotels, afternoons on the golf course, "etc, etc and so forth". Forgiveness might be necessary.
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@Jim Tagley It is great to know that you voted democrats up and down the ballot. But I am very curious to know why you did not vote for the democratic governor candidate. He ran an excellent campaign but still received less votes than Senator Nelson who ran a lackluster campaign. One thing is clear, people who voted for the governor candidate did vote for the senator Nelson but as you mentioned did not happen in other way. I wonder why?
Please enlighten all of us and just for your information DeSante is also against ACA.
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Immigration reform is a hard compromise. It needs:
1. A compassionate answer for allowing residency to long term illegal aliens.
2. Secure borders with easy passage from Canada and Mexico.
3. Abundant permission to enter the US to work. Permission that should be simple, and conditional. However, work should not be available to undocumented aliens.
Trump and the republicans see that there is only point #2, and ask for border security. They wish to deport all aliens, against the common sense of point #1.
#3 is the largest problem. People come here to work for the relatively large amounts of money available working in the US. Yet we do not provide a good secure border crossing identification, or have an easy and reliable system to ensure that resident workers are legally permitted to work here.
I want the answer to be secure photo, and biometric ID's issued at border crossings, and those ID's required by employers. And we need a compassionate allowance for the illegal alien population that has been here. They should be allowed to get those residency and work papers.
Border security requires roads in places. Barriers in some places. Patrols in some places. Cameras in some places. But the current answer of deporting everyone and allowing no immigration (except from Norway) is terrible.
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@votingmachine...."I want the answer to be secure photo, and biometric ID's issued at border crossings, and those ID's required by employers."....You nailed it. Now how do we convince people to listen?
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How about getting out of south America where we've been plundering their resources for decades under the headlines of the "war on drugs", while replacing their democratically elected leaders with our own selected dictators?
I'd like to believe the premise of this article, but do think it misses the fact that this rhetoric still mobilizes the President's base. I don't agree with the premise that voters have changed since 2016. Certainly in a midterm election, in purple districts or districts with growing immigrant populations, incumbents got knocked off. But the base still voted in hardline senators like Cramer, Blackburn, Hawley, and Hyde-Smith. Three Dem senate incumbents got knocked off the last election cycle. Immigration fears played well in the heartland.
2
Most Americans want comprehensive immigration reform but republicans don’t want to solve a problem that drives voters to the polls.
The New Democratic Congress should pass a plan and put republicans on defense.
3
The idea of building a border wall only infuriates a relatively small group on the far left. While a great many people see it as unnecessary, wasteful, and not the most efficient way to secure the border, most people aren't that worked up about it one way or the other. But that doesn't mean they don't want secure borders. It's simply not the top issue for most voters on either side of the political spectrum. But you'd never know it by paying attention to the news, because the people who are passionate about it are extremely loud.
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Many are angry about the wall simply because of its cost and the fact there are better uses for the money. Futher, Trump loves it because it detracts from his incompetence as President.
7
At this point, opposing illegal immigration and "bashing immigrants" are considered one and the same.
"Enhanced border security" is considered akin to "putting brown toddlers in cages."
The whole issue has been politicized, and polarized. If you're not for one extreme, you're assumed to be for the other.
Both sides are using this issue for political gain, with very little thought to what benefits this country.
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@Talbot.....Just remember that illegal immigration into the U.S. was at a 40 year low when Trump took office. Both sides are not to blame for the use of illegal immigration as a boogeyman. I am for border security but against demagoguery.
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@Talbot
Yea - the old nonsense about both sides being equally guilty. Where did I hear that before?...
Why are illegals so much scarier than drunk drivers? Huh? I am pretty sure drunk drivers kill way more people than illegals. I say we deport drunk drivers and let illegals live in peace - unless they drive drunk that is.
2
Please don't confuse Mr. Barrett national security with immigration - it's a false equivalency.
Let's all understand once and forever that the experts; Border Control, ICE, the DHS and local law enforcement authorities ALL SUPPORT the wall, all 1,100 miles in about thirty sections. Sure we need more - the technologies, intelligence and surveillance. But the current barrier is insufficent. It has been breached 9,200 times from 2015 to 2015 according to a Feb. 2017 GAO report, citing records from CBP on 654 miles of fencing.
The Business Insider on Feb. 10, 2018 reported that border agents attempted to breach or climb the eight prototypes of the "wall" and concluded it was "nearly impossible."
All indicate a 24 foot wall/fence is required for national security, illegal immigration and counter drug smuggling efforts. Finally, when a civil discussion on the need for such a barrier is attempted, opponents cry "immigrant racism," which is disingenuous at best.
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@Frank Leibold
Trump, Miller, and the rest of the ethno-nationalist GOP have deliberately linked national security with immigration. It's disingenuous to tell this writer to not do so when the basis for so-called "immigration reform" is so these mythical raping and murdering gangs of Central Americans can get shut out.
You know this, because both you and I live in Virginia and saw the campaigns that Corey Stewart and Ed Gillespie ran.
7
@Frank Leibold- Throughout history there has never been a "wall" that had lasting success in what it was intended to do. Notable examples are the Great Wall of China and the Berlin Wall which are more examples of barriers created out of fear of what was on the other side. Michelle Obama says it well, "it is hard to hate up close". Maybe this is why the border states are not as worked up about a wall as some farther away.
I see you live in Virginia and I would bet you have not toured the border area. I would suggest you take a trip and get a look at the natural barriers and the landscape along the Rio Grande and further west, it may open your eyes.
9
@Frank Leibold, none of this is true. Yes, obviously, localities favor "border security", but we already have this. The southern border is one of the most secure on the planet and illegal crossings are minimal. Localities and residents along the border overwhelmingly oppose the "wall", for obvious reasons.
"The wall" is an absurd joke, conjured from an off-the-cuff comment at an Alabama campaign rally. It's just fodder for racists. Most illegal immigration comes via expired tourist visas (not unlike Melania's experience) and walls aren't gonna stop plane travel.
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None of this negates the need for us to update our immigration policies to reflect the world we're living in now as opposed to the one we lived in during the 20th century. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't educated all students on how and why our country grew in population during its existence. Nor should we overlook the facts about what immigrants contribute to this country.
Trump and the GOP have created an image of immigrants that is simply not correct. Most are not illegal. Most are law abiding. Many come here because they think America offers them and their children a better opportunity than their home countries ever can. Immigrants come here for the same reasons they've been coming here. Economic opportunity, freedom from religious persecution or political persecution, and some are just adventurous.
Most are not taking jobs away from us. If we want to end illegal immigration it has to start with penalizing the companies that hire illegal immigrants. To do that we need a more reliable database to check people against. But to discriminate against a person because his/her surname is Hispanic, s/he has an accent, or looks Hispanic is ridiculous. Nor are most Muslims terrorists. We've had more domestic terrorists than anything else.
Immigrants take a real gamble in coming here. Some will not make it. But to treat all immigrants like the enemy is a mistake. They keep America young and vital. They remind us that everyone has to start somewhere.
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@Hen3rey
Most of them are taking jobs that no American wants to do. Or, more importantly, jobs that employers don’t want to pay fair wages for. Otherwise, don’t you think Americans would gladly take those jobs. BTW, we have a national program for employers called E-Verify. Rather than keep arguing over immigration, why don’t we just enforce E-verify? Punish the Corporations. Oh, wait, what am I saying......that’ll never happen.
Interestingly, the Times reported yesterday that Mexico has a proposition for “US”: Help invest economically in those Central American countries so their citizens don’t feel forced to flee or plead for asylum in the US. If the US isn’t interested, Mexico will turn to China for help with this problem.
Do you ever wonder why the majority of people crossing illegally aren’t Mexican anymore? Thank NAFTA. The agreement Trump just trashed. NAFTA lifted so many Mexican citizens out of poverty, (clearly not all) that MX now graduates, per capita, more engineers than any other country. It worked for Mexico. It can work for Central America.
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@JTH some of the jobs are jobs that older, unemployed Americans can't do. But I do agree that for some of the jobs there are Americans who can and would do them but employers don't want to hire or pay Americans. It's going to hurt them at some point because if enough people can't find jobs the economy will crash.
4
@JTH
eVerify is a voluntary program except in a few industries and, interestingly, a few states, all of which are Red. Here's a map showing where and how eVerify is required:
https://www.lawlogix.com/e-verify-map/
3
"screaming about so-called border security..."
That's the kind of line that leads to claims that Democrats are for open borders, and got Trump elected.
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@Talbot, false equivalence. Trump is indeed screaming about so-called border security (while married to a former illegal and mass-hiring illegals and refusing to enact employment checks which would actually stop illegal immigration). In contrast, I'm not aware of any Democrat who supports open borders.
8
An uplifting column of (mostly) good news. Unfortunately though, like all voters, Latinos only turnout to vote in large enough numbers to make a difference when our democracy is gravely threatened.
As we're learning of the extraordinary level of support from Russia (once considered "our greatest geopolitical foe") for the GOP, combined with the many disadvantages and headwinds that Democrats face (gerrymandering, voter suppression, an unrepresentative Senate, Fox "news" and so much more), we ALL must take our civic responsibility to vote in EVERY election much more seriously. It has become painfully obvious, to those of us paying attention, that the survival of our democracy is of no concern to the GOP and those who support them.
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Dear Matt,
Great column but I’m afraid contains too many facts for daycare don.
Our state run television network faux news feeds this narrative to their viewers because they’d rather talk about this than the climbing deficit or the Mueller convictions. Their viewers are 65 and are having a difficult time accepting that people that don’t look like them are the future.
Non-white children will be the majority in 2019 and our country by 2040. The Republicans are clinging on to the past and is the reason they not only lost the mid-terms but I predict everything in 2020. Why? Because they don’t look like the country we are now and don’t know how to admit that their leaders are jumping ship.
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@PatMurphy77
I'm 69, male, and white and I for one am glad the future doesn't look like us.
2
"Before Mr. Trump took office, Republicans were more trusted than Democrats on immigration, but now it’s Democrats who are more trusted."
Could it be that many are getting thoroughly disgusted with the histrionics and cruelty this administration is displaying at the border?
NBC has provided excellent on-site reporting of the facts, which are hard to ignore, from child separation policies, "branding" migrants as if they were cattle or, more sinister, occupants of a concentration camp, and the latest, "metering" of asylum seekers.
I know this whips up Trump's base, and plays on their hatred for immigrants, but it's quickly becoming a presidential disgrace of monumental proportions.
Stephen Miller, one of the scarier and more arrogant, agenda driven members of this ugly administration, is being given enormous power to change the rules at the border on whim and ideology.
I think the author is spot on on how this might affect 2020, and potentially garner the voting power of many to send Mr. Trump back up his escalator to finally face, as a private citizen, all the many investigations into the entities he runs.
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Very compelling article. There is one flaw that I see. The Democrats need a long-term strategy that does not rely on being just anti-Trump. The Democrats need to show that they really care about immigrants and true reform. Otherwise, when DJT goes away, the Latinos, Hispanics, Asian-Americans etc. will not show up at the polls.
62
Well, Donald proclaimed that the midterms were a tremendous victory for the GOP. Many people don’t see it that way, but why argue?
In the hopes that he can continue his great success in the 2020 election, my advice to him on his signature issue, immigration, is, don’t stop believing. What on earth though, will you tell your base about your beloved wall? It’s invisible, like one of those high tech jets you’re always marveling about?
28