Fits the mold.
1
Who is the lesser of two evils?
Fortunately, Cucch lost the VA Govs election, and he has been more moderate as a talking head on the news, and Kobach's absurd demands are as corrupt as those of Pruitt's swamp. Both are off the charts.
There will be conflagration regardless of who Trump chooses, and the future won't be predictable until November of 2020.
1
Did he pick an Italian American on purpose?!!!!!!!!
We were the late 19th century minority immigrants that everyone hated.
Read about the hard acceptance in communities of Germans and poles and Irish of my great grandparents.
I am proud of my family arriving in 1850 in Hartford Ct. and creating the Pallotti Clan.
Mark Twain knew my family. Family opened a Bank and the first auto dealership. Our family produced many political figures in Ct.
Now Trump appoints a hater ; who happens to be forgetting that his gene pool is close to those we chose to hate at our southern border.
Trump is evil and manipulative in such a terrible way. Great at inciting divisions.
Cuccinelli!!!!! Shame on your hard line. You are in charge of concentration camps essentially. Italian Americans are better than the examples in office now.
Pelosi rein in your kids. Cuz impeachment is very enticing.
Trump don’t think we are not savvy enough to see your machinations. Or did Miller suggest this obscenity to head the agency?Is there a message being sent to Catholics and the pope in appointing an Italian American. ?
1
perhaps a side issue, perhaps not: President Trump's chaotic administration has a very high churn rate among its officials. Homeland Security is just one responsibility with an acting head, which really means someone unconfirmed by the Senate. next, Trump acts to appoint henchmen with various specific, sometimes undefined, responsibilities, reporting to unconfirmed superiors, meaning essentially to Trump himself. the President is illegally grabbing and concentrating powers without Congressional advice and consent. and this is just one more way in which he is distorting the role of the President, sidelining Congress, and moving toward unfettered power as a king. it is time for Congress - that means you, Quisling McConnell - to get serious about its role as a co-equal branch of government and not just gravy-train enablers.
1
Cuccinelli - a nice Italian name. He must be descended from those southern Europeans that the nativists didn't want to let in back in the early 20th century.
1
In March 2010, Cuccinelli, then Virginia’s Attorney General, issued an official opinion to "Presidents, Rectors, and Visitors of Virginia's Public Colleges and Universities" that stated, "It is my advice that the law and public policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia prohibit a college or university from including 'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification, as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy”.
Unless Cuccinelli can show that he no longer holds such prejudiced opinions, the Congress should reject his appointment.
2
Sounds like a job for Steve Miller, but I guess he is afraid to get out of sight of Trump for fear one of his fellow staffers will stab him in the back.
1
Reminds me of the Joe Carccione, the old produce guy on NY TV many years ago. Loved vegetables."You can buy them by the pound or by the each."
2
@JRS
Shall I be mother and educate? Democrats are for humane border security NOT for open borders. Obama holds the current record for the deportation of illegal aliens. Trump ships them to Florida and loses track of who and where they are. Thousands of children were separated from their parents and sent off to various American cities and will never be reunited. They are housed like animals in the richest country in the world.
Migration is happening because Americans insist on putting cocaine up their nose and heroin in their veins. Thus, the drug cartels are ravaging Central America and women and children, JRS, women and children are fleeing or are raped and killed.
Now read the world news section once in a while.
5
@H.A. Hyde,
Thank you; your distress is duly noted.
Cuccinelli? His ancestors must have been Native American.
3
@Paul V Italian immigrant.
1
Or the Mayflower. Take your pick.
@Penny, he's saying it as a joke. Mocking. Sarcasm.
2
Mr. Cuccinelli is a climate change denier who wasted taxpayer money going outside his limited duties as Attorney General of Virginia to file ridiculous lawsuits based on shabby science.
7
The hard line needs to be drawn against the gangs of Central America. Until military assets are used to pacify them the futile exodus of Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorians will continue.
3
@Vincent Tagliano Because actually sitting down with various players in the region to find ways to bring stability, using carrots and sticks is not on the table for war-mongers eager to win an election.
3
the word "eager" is nice, but "desparate" is more like it: Trump must win re-election or be indicted for a list of crimes longer than his golf drives. a vote for Trump is a vote for crime.
1
“A prominent conservative”? You mean like Kobach who also couldn’t win a red state’s governorship? That prominent?
8
"President Trump is expected to name Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former attorney general of Virginia and an immigration hard-liner...."
The use of the clause "an immigration hard-liner" seems unnecessary. Who else would this president nominate?
Also, it's not three but five immigrant children who have died in US custody since December, as reported yesterday.
I've maintained that Donald Trump doesn't want to solve the border crisis, just manage it cruelly, as it's a winning issue with his increasingly angry base. To solve it would take a lot of work, and a lot of willingness to work with the other side.
Our immigration laws and policies are in great need of an overhaul. But I don't see that happening until the Democrats win back the White House, and even then, it would depend on the political composition of the Congress.
To think we were so close to a bipartisan solution in 2013 until John Boehner, who could not manage the Tea Party, refused to bring it up for a House vote.
Such a lost opportunity, and likely one that encouraged the rise of Donald J. Trump, whose number one skill is using wedge issues to maintain over his base.
6
@ChristineMcM, the bigger lost opportunity was spring of 1996 and the tragic loss of Barbara Jordan at age 59 in January of that year. Congress was expected to pass all of the Jordan Commission recommendations by comfortable bipartisan majority (if not veto-proof majority). Clinton yanked his support after Ms. Jordan died and under heavy lobbying from the Chinese, who were providing illegal $ (via John Huang) and who did not want the chain migration reform.
The 2013 bill would have been an improvement over the status quo because of many aspects of modernization but compared with 1995 and 1996, it made zero hard choices and simply expanded immigration in virtually all categories, well beyond the already record and most-generous-in-the-world rates of 1.3 million legal immigrants per year. It was the Chamber of Commerce/Koch Brothers-approved bill.
6
When Obama had czars the Republicans couldn’t stop mocking him for it. That’s what they do, I get it.
Now Trump appoints a czar and it’s seen as a masterful move by a serious tactician.
How long before the Oval Office has a throne installed.
9
Trump's attack on immigrants is the worst action that I've seen our country take. Cuccinelli seems to be a hard liner that will probably team up with Stephen Miller to continue our country's cruelety.
I have to question the intelligence and integrity of anybody who will go to work for Trump.
13
@Javaforce Yes, you are right. Our treatment of immigrants is a moral stain on this country that will be judged harshly by history. I am both amazed and appalled by the number of my fellow citizens who do not understand this.
5
The idea that immigration is needed for the economy is a lie. China has zero immigration and yet has become the largest economy in the world.
The difference is that China and other East Asian countries invest in their own human capital instead of importing foreigners. It's time for the US to do the same.
7
You are mistaken I regret. China certainly did not need immigration because it had a surplus of persons - hundreds of millions - who were far underutilized. So the bump up in GDP and productivity was from a low base rate. China is nowhere near other countries in GDP and living standards except in the B roll video footage you see on newscasts. If you take a look behind the curtain it has a long way to go economically, socially, academically and in terms of health and freedom. The US can make great use of its immigrants. They work at jobs other Americans snub, they are younger and pay into our Social Security system which we need. Immigrants bring fresh blood, energy along with some ideas and even capital in some cases.
6
@Will Eigo
Immigration as a supposed "solution" to the supposed funding problems of Social Security is a giant Ponzi scheme.
In less than 40 years, all those supposedly young energetic immigrants will reach retirement age, and that will generate a supposed "need" for still more immigrants,
on and on ad infinitum.
A much better solution to Social Security is to raise the retirement age.
When Social Security standard retirement age was set 80 years ago, life expectancy was about 65. Now it is about 80. No reason why 5 of those additional 15 years should not be spent working. That would still leave a net gain of 10 years.
3
@Snacktime Cookien So do you also support the complete absence of actual democracy? government using eminent domain to evict thousands of people? imprisoning people who speak out against your government? shooting at students who demonstrate against your government? controlling the internet and the press with insane, paranoid precision?
comparing china's economy with ours is like comparing apples and elephants.
1
Naturally.
Is anyone surprised anymore that any Trump choice to his cabinet is alway, either: corrupt, unqualified, shamelessly heartless, or a combination of all three?
7
@Susanna Look up "suercilious" and you'll find Cuccinelli's picture.
1
A thorough analysis is required to justify impeachment, which is what Pelosi and Nadler have been doing. Mueller did that and may have assumed the final decision would be made by Congress because of DOJ’s standing policy of not indicting a sitting President.
The Democrats now need Mueller in front of cameras and the American people; and then McGahn, and Mnuchin and Donny Jr. if they do not honor a subpoena, then have the cameras watch as they walk Barr and the rest to jail. Then impeachment.
The only thing that took Nixon down was the news media. Let’s start winning the Facebook/twitter circus and get it out of the hands of Trump and FOX and Friends.
5
This is not a real post or job nor should it ever be. We are a nation of laws, not men. Honestly people WAKE UP!!!! For those of us who had parents immigrating after WWII, who lived through the Nazi occupation of so much of Europe, we know what’s happening!
17
May Cuccinelli's immigration work for our amoral president meet the same fate as that of imaginary vote fraud investigator Kris Kobach, another extremist former state attorney general and failed candidate for governor.
11
Another currently unemployed Repub apparatchnik who needs a job in the Trump "administration." Back in 1945 he would have found himself in the defendants' dock in war crimes trials.
15
now, we are again at war with ourselves... much to Putin's delight.
Let us check it out who does the upkeep of his pristine front lawn, clean the house and some home improvements. It is most like an undocumented or documented immigrants. Hypocrisy abound with all these dudes.
7
@Uly
And let's check out who hires "undocumented" household help.
No Dems hiring "undocumented" household help?
No anecdotes please.
Just the actual data.
And if there is no actual data,
then let's have laws that ensure that it is provided,
such as mandatory biometric ID on-line verification,
for all employment,
including all household employment,
and also for licensing all businesses that contract for household help,
and mandatory reporting for all mismatches.
And then let the chips fall where they may.
on Repubs,
and on Dems.
And, btw, prompt deportation for whoever the mandatory biometric ID system reveals to be unauthorized (aka "undocumented"),
and penalties for employers only if they fail to use the mandatory biometric ID system or fail to promptly report to ICE any mismatches that they discover.
4
Surprised the draft dodger did not select Kris Kobach for the job. With all Kobach's demands he seemed to be T's kind of guy.
6
Mr. Ken Cuccineli comes from a family of immigrants. As does Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and Melania Trump. Anybody who enters this country with big dreams of making somebody of themselves and eventually becoming a constructive citizen is, in my view, already a US citizen. America is, for the most part, built by first-generation immigrants. The second-generation often wastes it, and the third-generation has to start allover.
11
@Thomas
You're right. He immigrated from New Jersey to Virginia, but after we got to know him he took his nonsensical views to Fox News.
2
If multiple administrations going as far back as Jimmy Carter had not bungled and fumbled on immigration so badly we wouldn't be reading about Mr. Cuccinelli today.
14
@Gerald Hirsch Actually if the ‘Indians’ had a better immigration policy ....
6
What did trump say? He has only the best people working for him.
"Mr. Trump has been considering creating an immigration 'czar' post for months, with Mr. Cuccinelli and Kris Kobach, ... as his top choices." He's got two failed governor contenders (2013, 2018) wanting the job — with title and duties — still being hashed out. Of course, this seems like trump wants to reward his fellow republicans with a chance for a government job because of their loyalty and service.
trump did the same thing for former Kansas governor Sam Brownback "to get out of Dodge" by appointing him as U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom on February 1, 2018, after making a mess of things in Kansas.
Now, it would seem logical to promote Mr. McAleenan to the top job but our evasive trump doesn't want someone in charge, who shows weakness, by having "a heart".
4
If Stephen Miller's views are aligned with Mr. Cuccinelli's, then we're really in for a shocking time. Every step Trump takes in deference to Miller's dark xenophobic fantasies is a step towards a new Nazi Germany.
19
More of a fascist — the Cooch or Kobach? It’s a tie. Can’t wait for the turf wars. Seems Kobach went to the Scott Pruitt school of civil service.
86
I am as liberal as they come! I have a service dog [even though there is no medical reason why I need one] I smoke medical marijuana [even though I have no medical reason] I shop at Whole Foods [with my service dog] I have an indoor and outdoor compost pile, I am a straight white male but I'll admit to having a gay thought twice a month. I think that makes me a liberal!
Anyway- When it comes to immigration- I support Trump. The Democrats never had a sound plan other than amnesty and chain migration.
I support and agree with my party [the Democrats] on everything EXCEPT immigration.
In 2020, I will hold my nose and vote for Trump [again].
20
@Aaron, can you be more specific? What exactly do you object to that Dems allegedly believe in? Please don't say open borders as there is no official Dem program that encourages this.
19
@Aaron -- So another one issue voter. Uninformed of course about the one issue. Chain migration is how Trump is here, how Melania and her family are here. It is how my wife and son are here. It is called family. My wife is legally here. I a citizen went through the process. Many of the illegals here do the jobs no one else will do. They pay taxes but can get no benefit. We have to have a sane immigration policy where people can come and work and have a chance at a future. I am not suggesting a free hand out but something humane something sensible.
Maybe have a foreign policy that helps the countries these people come from to rid themselves of corruption and drug cartels, make it possible for the people to stay home.
You would ignore the multitude of problems we have for one issue that the Republicans, especially Trump have refused to compromise on. So burn it all down because you don't like the color brown.
28
@Aaron You are aware the Democrats, those people you accuse of many things wrong with immigration, have attempted many times to have legislation concerning changes to immigration law.
You are pointing your finger at the wrong party.
Try pointing your fingers at McConnell.
29
Oh no. We who've lived with this former VA AG cringe at the thought. Please, not the Miller/Cooch alignment. Homeland "security" is already a joke.
64
@S. The best way to stay out of Homeland Security's crosshairs is to obey the law. It's not that difficult.
12
@Valery Gomez
Or simply don't drive a car at all in Massachusetts or Vermont where ICE has been pulling people over without probable cause to "check their papers." Their crime? Living in a Blue State while Trump is "president."
21
@Valery Gomez
Asylum seekers are following the law.
7
Where does he find these people? Is there a TV studio lot somewhere that's full of disgraced former conservatives?
I guess it shouldn't be too surprising, the only people willing to work for this president are flim-flam men desperate to be relevant again. A lack of any expertise or experience on a topic doesn't seem to matter.
This truly is a kakistocracy--government by the worst, most inept people.
102
If as Maggie reports here it is accurate that Koblach was already an ‘unlikely’ pick then 1. He was a fool for this suicidal must-have list as reported by Maggie. And/or Maggie’s reporting of the ‘must-have’ list made him unlikely and undid Koblach. But why did not Maggie mention in the Koblach article earlier today that he was indeed unlikely ? Maggie is a great reporter with amazing access to sources. Or is she the Trump whisperer ?
2
Cuccinelli was the Virginia attorney general a while back and was truly an awful human being; his brand of hate politics and ultra conservatism and religious zealotry led him to be dumped by a southern conservative state. The immigration challenges facing the nation need a smart, deft, capable and open-minded person - the Cooch, as we called him in Virginia ain’t that guy.
19
Did this pick demand a private jet too?
6
Are not foreign nationals who refuse to abide by our laws unless made acquiescent by state force immigration hardliners themselves?
6
Another name in the who's who in right wing extremism. Cuccinelli is so extreme he tried to take on science in the courts. He sued renowned climate scientist Michael Mann who worked at the U. of Virginia before moving on to Penn State where he became the number one target of the right wing extremist climate deniers for his so-called "hockey stick" graph which empirically demonstrated the recent spike in average global temperature after almost 1,000 years of rather steady temperature. Fortunately for truth Cuccinelli lost in court and Mann won. No doubt Cuccinlli will take his war against the truth into the Trump administration if he succeeds in getting appointed and then he join Trump in waging war against the truth. Democracy is teetering and with this appointment Trump is giving it another little push.
20
Run for governor, lose, wait for appointment scraps from Trump. Koblach and Cuccinelli. Any others to add ?
9
I have nothing to add. But read the comments. They are great.
5
Ugh. There are no words to express the amount of disgust I have when it comes to President Genghis Can't and the sycophant loyalists he appoints in the "acting" positions that they are not qualified for in his corrupt and incompetent administration.
What's the death toll up to in migrant children detained in his cages these days.
44
Virginia rejected this third rate failure of an AG. He will fit right into the "yessir" troops for Trump/
40
Hard line immigration policies are promoted by foolish minds. Cuccinelli may be a successful lawyer but he's an idiot if he cannot see that immigration is a minor problem but one which is not being adequately funded to handle the demands upon it. We are not being overrun by anybody. We are facing the normal results of humans reacting to life threatening circumstances and migrating to find a better place to live.
Right now the problem is instability the impossibility of living adequately in Central America. Resolve those conditions and nobody is going to walk thousands of miles to ask for asylum, here. The solution lies in foreign policy and international assistance for poor countries.
This right wing propaganda that paints our stable society with it's social programs for the undeserving as honey luring the indigent and lazy is silly nonsense from people who just don't want to spend their money on strangers.
51
@Casual Observer We do not even know how many illegals are in this country. The press likes to tell us it is "11 million". Fact is, our leaders do not know. Safe to say that the number is well over 11 million...probably double that.
Most are here to work. But there clearly is a criminal element and a drain on our social and medical services by some.
But a "minor problem"? Hardly.
17
@AZPurdue
The influx of undocumented workers has been diminishing for a decade. The demand undocumented cheap labor was lessened by the poor economy. It is a problem that has been getting less for a long time.
However the influx of people seeking asylum, coming here to apply for it has greatly increased.
10
@AZPurdue get over yourself! We have a criminal in the WH but apparently that is not an issue for Republicans
11
Ernest Shackleton, the famous Arctic explorer is said to have placed an ad in the London Times on December 29, 1913 seeking men to join him on an expedition to the Antarctic. Although the ad never appeared in the paper that day, and still hasn’t been located in print in any newspaper, it is supposed to have said:
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honor and recognition in case of success.”
27 men answered his call and joined the expedition.
All that can be said about them today with absolute certainty is that none of them were Republicans.
50
this is sadly very much on the mark.
12
@A. Stanton, Shackleton’s hut near McMurdo Sound still stands to this day.
6
@A. Stanton And the very diverse group that went with Shackelton all had their differences, but the civilizing effects of decent men became the rule; correct, none of them could possibly have been Republicans because they worked together for the common good and they all survived.
10
I guess the idea is that with "The Swamp" being drained that only the bottom-feeders will survive.
63
So, we first select a vetted and reliable right-wing extremist to add fuel to the ongoing dumpster fire and after that selection we define a job, or ther extremist defines it for himself, all funded by the taxpayer. As the saying goes, nice work if you can get it... and apparently the proven sycophants can get it. The acting DHS Secretary, respected on both sides of the aisle, needs to "watch his 6" or be prepared to be sidelined.
12
Reviewing the majority of NYT comments, one would think thee and the Twitter people are the voice of America.
Independents will decide who will be president as the extremists on both sides have proven the center must rule.
We will not vote for open borders and chaos; Democrats need to think clearly about the implications of their condoning illegal immigration: you will lose to Trump in 2020.
19
@JRS "The Center" in this country believes in the Constitution and follows the law, and expects government officials to do the same, including testifying in Congress when so ordered by law and supported by the courts.
10
@JRS Democrats do not condone illegal immigratio but they expect, as we all must, humane treatment of those seeking asylum. If you don't understand their need for asylum, then you haven't read the news and history of the violence and drugs in central America.
15
@JRS You also need to listen to voices of truth concerning Democrats and immigration.
Clearly your listening to the tweets of a twit and his propaganda is working.
7
The Cooch keeps popping up like a bad penny. An ardent extremist Catholic, Cuccinelli is not a good choice for anything much less a post that requires some nuance and sensitivity, like Stephen Miller, right? Actually, Cooch and Miller will be bookends for Trump's goons-on-the-border approach, accompanied by the Border Patrol commissars. The US is looking more and more like a paranoid banana republic regime every day.
36
@Rocky, yikes, it sounds like Kris Kobach would actually have been better. So tragic and unfortunate that Bill Clinton betrayed African-American, Democratic Congresswoman and civil rights icon Barbara Jordan and the immigration reform legislation based on her Commission in 1996. If Clinton had simply stayed true to his promises to her from 1994 and 1995, the legislation would have passed and the problem never would have festered, allowing Trump to gain traction in 2016. What a strange irony that Hillary Clinton was then the opponent in '16.
8
There's another requirement for the new coordinator for immigration policies. It will be his job to loudly proclaim that millions of illegal immigrants voted for Democrats in 2020 when Trump loses in a landslide. An 'expert' on immigration will be expected to speak on Trump's behalf. That way Trump can say, 'Everybody says I won if you don't count illegals.' And AG Barr can chime in that he plans to open a 'serious investigation' of what has to be election fraud.
(Frankly, I'll be a bit surprised if Kris Kobach isn't the guy. I guess his intent to live high off the taxpayer was too obvious.)
Regardless, A Trump loss may end up litigated in the courts with our illegitimate SCOTUS again picking a president. That's why the impeachment process needs to pick up speed, and pronto.
23
@Michael Tyndall - don't forget that Kobach was the head of the fraud squad that was supposed to "find" those imaginary voters. Fail. This after being the self-promoting Kansan who was going after all those very very very many illegals voting in his state. I think his total haul was 9 convictions and most or all were citizens.
The blowhard was quoted after #9 as saying: "“This conviction demonstrates once again how prevalent the crime of double voting is,”.
The article mentions there were 1.8 million registered voters in Kansas at the time. So his haul after a lot of effort was 0.0005% of the electorate.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article148434369.html
4
Cuccinelli is also big on trying to prevent schools from teaching evolution in science class. Well, he IS really, really well qualified for at least one thing; "service" (if that is the word I want) in the Trump Maladministration.
12
The United States can no longer have 18th century immigration policies. They don't make sense with the kind of economy we have now. They don't make sense with climate change.
Realistically we should stop all immigration. More people means more CO2 which means a worse collective future for all of us (worldwide). More people in the US means higher prices for all of us- not offset by all the imaginary taxes we are getting. Not offset by the lower prices that come with importing cheap labor.
Its time for this madness to end. The US cannot be the dumping grounds for the worlds over-population. What happened yesterday happened yesterday. Statues are statues. 'Feelings' and 'diversity' and moral signalling isn't going to solve our very real, and very dangerous, problems (climate change). Stopping the endless flow of people will. Deporting those here illegally definitely will (deport 30 million illegal aliens, and their abettors, and CO2 emissions will go down significantly).
Or we can continue feeding the pro-illegal immigration radicals and see Trump re-elected for another four years.
8
@willt26
Huh? More CO2 happening is not dependent on which side of a border people live on.
2
@Mary Gibbons Immigrants from the developing world generally make more money for themselves once they arrive here. With more money comes things like more cars, more housing construction and more plastic consumption.
4
Good.
We need an immigration "hard-liner".
America's immigration law, policy and actions
ought to serve America's needs,
-- not the needs of immigrant wannabes.
We do not need gatecrashers,
nor gamers playing the system for loopholes.
We do not need massive immigration.
We already have 330 million people,
and every year grant 1.1 million "green cards",
the right to legal permanent residence,
plus hundreds of thousands of supposedly "temporary" visas
in a plethora of categories for supposedly "temporary" residence for work, study and a host of other reasons
that somehow end up getting endlessly extended and become de facto permanent,
plus birthright citizenship,
even for babies born here to illegal immigrants and tourists.
That is plenty.
We do not need more.
The world has over 7 billion people,
rapidly approaching 8 billion.
Half of them live in dire circumstances.
Hundreds of millions would come here it we let them.
But we have no obligation whatsoever to let them.
We need much stronger immigration control.
15
"Trump Expected to Pick Hard-Liner for Immigration Post"
In other breaking news:
Fire burns.
Water is wet.
Fat meat is greasy.
The Check is in the mail.
And the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.
21
@KNVB:Raiders
You forgot one...Illinois is broke.
2
My father was arrested on the street in his hometown of Gleiwitz, Germany on Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938) and spent a month in the Buchenwald Camp, before my mother was somehow able to bribe him out.
He and my mother were among the last Jews able to get out of Germany before the war started.
They made their way to England, to Cuba, to New York, and then back to Cuba and New York again before being able to gain permanent residence here.
Their entire journey to America took them about two years to accomplish.
It’s a safe bet that in a Trump Administration today, they and a lot of other Jewish refugees would never have made it into this country.
60
@A. Stanton
You are 100% correct.
When all four of my grandparents (and my mother), came to the US from shtetls in what is now the Ukraine between the late 1890s and 1924, not single one of them spoke any English.
Under the Trump Administration, they probably would have had a hard time getting into the country, because none of them came from Norway.
Every one of my mother's grandchildren has at least one postgraduate degree and is a productive member of American society.
Immigrants (and their children) have been important contributors to our society since the time of the Pilgrims in 1620.
It is an old American tradition.
16
Tell THAT. to my fellow Jews please
@A. Stanton
A lot of Jews were sent back to die because Roosevelt's administration did not want a flood of Jewish immigrants -- much to the shame of this nation.
5
Since beginning his political career, Ken Cuccinelli has been on the wrong side of history on every social issue from climate change to same sex marriage. His attacks on women’s reproductive autonomy in Virginia are notorious. The only mildly amusing thing he ever did as attorney general there, was when he gave his staff pins of the Virginia state seal to wear, but only after he had the visible breast of the goddess Virtus covered up with a new armored breastplate. He should be a great fit with his serial sexual harasser boss.
29
Day One on the job...Arrest and jail all owners and managers of every slaughterhouse, meat-packing plant, factory, farm, ranch, lawncare and construction company in America that employs any illegal immigrants. As we know, conservatives do not accept the excuse of ignorance of laws for those who break them.
12
@Cowboy Marine
How about starting with the owner of a few golf courses, including one in Bedminster, New Jersey, about whom we have public information that he has hired undocumented workers for years, some of whom worked for him up to this year?
13
@Cowboy Marine, I've said this a million times. Attack the "demand" side of the immigration equation and the problem would be solved rather quickly. Unfortunately, conservatives don't want to solve the immigration problem. It's too useful to them in agitating their base.
7
@Cowboy Marine You failed to include Trump owned/managed properties...
4
It is under this kind of fascistic leadership a massacre will occur somewhere along the border. At some point, law enforcement, militias, or bandits are going to open fire in the belief that their patriotic duty will be sanctioned and protected by the government and the ideopaths it employs or out of sheer tension. Innocents will die in the desert and the border will become a war zone. I hope I’m wrong, but the natural end to this blend of psychopathy and ideology is almost always horrifying violence in some form.
8
@Marcus Brant We already have had a Border Patrol guy who ran over and killed a migrant. Deliberately. Now the TSA is diverting personnel to the border including Air Marshals.. And money is being diverted from Pentagon to build the freaking wall.
This criminal has now a collection of losers and fascists that would do any 2 bit dictator proud. Our hope is that the NY AG works her magic soon.
3
Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a former attorney general of Virginia, who is willing to throw away what little reputation he has left.
Let all the hard-liners come out from hiding, so we can send them all off for a well deserved permanent retirement from any position of public trust.
Seems to me like a fitting end, because none of them trust the public.
12
I thought he was oystering. Good grief!
5
Imagine being an "immigration hardliner" when your last name is Cuccinelli.
107
@Keith. Indeed. Perhaps in days gone by he would prey on the newly arrived immigrants.
I am saddened we share the same heritage.
13
@Keith
my thoughts exactly. And I am a first generation immigrant also with a distinct non Anglo-name.
10
@Keith
The ones who pull up the ladder right after they climb it are the worst.
26
This has and always will be a play to energize the GOP base. Distract from all the other awful things being done (money from the poor to the rich, environmental destruction which of course also benefits the rich) or good things not being done (no infrastructure, no better healthcare, etc.). Oh no. Instead, let's focus on migrants and not even acknowledge the horrible places from where they are fleeing. Yeah, that'll solve American's problems.
22
Anyone is better that Kobach? Cuccinelli knows the current state of play and will go along with Miller and Trump. So bad times ahead either way. As for his 'role'? The whole CZAR of immigration seems way over the top but Trump is known to like it that way.
8
Trump is the decider, anyone he appoints to anything is not chosen to be a decision/ policy maker but to carry out what they are told. Anyone who thinks otherwise still buying the con. This is about the base, gotta keep em happy. Fight, fight, fight.
13
As a moderate and first generation legal immigrant I will say Trump will win on Immigration. There is nothing wrong with a merit based immigration policy. There is everything wrong with a chaotic border where masses of poor and uneducated lawlessly flowing in.
The Democrats says they are not for open border but at the same time hamper and criticize every avenue to control our own borders. Action speak louder than words and the voters are not stupid.
Democrats need to embrace law, order, and merit based immigration in order to win the next election(and more importantly, for the betterment of the country and its citizens).
33
@John
I'm willing to bet that about half of the citizens of this country who proudly claim to be patriotic Americans would not be here if the merit system proposed by Trump was in effect when those citizen's ancestors tried to immigrate.
17
@John And where are you from and how did you get in? Anyone who is an immigrant and doesn't have compassion for these people must have had a lot of money or good breaks in his life. Try for some compassion, will you? "There but for the grace of God, go I."
17
@John. Merit based immigration policy has merits. However, with past racist policies and racial comments that ooze from Trump and Miller merit based immigration would mean white skinned, Northern Europe and speak English. People from certain “hole” countries need not apply.
6
Immigration - the topics Democrats cannot create a coherent strategy for but know what theyre against. Yes, let us flood our borders with asylum seekers and tie up the courts.
Everytime this topic is covered, we are inundated with photos with single moms but the Department of Homeland lays bare the actual stats. It isn't single moms rushing the border.
Trump should make good on his promise to ship them to sanctuary cities and spare the rest of us. They'll enjoy their free healthcare under Medi-Cali once California passes its free healthcare for all illegals, not just those under 26. Then we can incentive illegal immigration more- beaches, free healthcare and underground jobs.
Wonder why they're not stopping in Mexico and setting up shop? Trump will win 2020 on this issue alone because Dems are beholden to the Twitter and PC class.
Dems need to get tougher and stop criticizing people with an actual backbone on the issue when they lack one.
26
One guess as to who " leaked " the list of Kobach demands for the Job.
Who benefits ?
16
I believe Ken Cuccinelli's failed gubernatorial campaign was one of the first in the U.S. to use the services of Cambridge Analytica.
Ken also accepted gifts from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams in the scandal that so tainted Gov. Bob McDonnell.
29
@Dubious
At least he knows how to concede an election, unlike Stacey Abrams.
6
The undocumented (and their employers) will continue to spit on our laws until they are forcibly brought into compliance. Playing patty cake with criminals is futile and dangerous.
23
@Valery Gomez
You make a good case for why impeachment proceedings need to begin ASAP, but unfortunately that logic doesn’t describe a fix for immigration issues.
8
@Valery Gomez you are so right. It's time to mandate use of e-Verify. Stop illegal immigration and abuse of asylum claims now.
14
I am not an American and every day our need to escape the economic pull of America seems more urgent.
The economic professionals who work for the people rather corporations tell us we will need upwards of 350K new Canadians each and every year for at least two decades to fill the jobs our economy will create. Here in the Cantons de L'est we will need everything from medical researchers to hewers of wood and drawers of water.
America will need upwards of 2M new Americans a year and from here it looks like Trump will soon destroy America's economy and for Trump, Cuccinelli is a terrific asset. Go Trump go Cuch the world needs a new chance where America holds little or no power.
8
@Montreal Moe
"Here in the Cantons de L'est we will need everything from medical researchers to hewers of wood and drawers of water. "
Your country has managed, over the years, to deter almost all illegal immigration. In addition, you have been able to deter asylum seekers from Mexico, Central America, and points south by making an agreement with the U.S. which requires people to seek asylum in the first country they come to.
More recently, your party prime minister's party has wanted to pass legislation which would deny asylum to anyone who has been refused asylum in the U.S.
Since Canada has so few illegal migrants and so few people who cross its borders to ask for asylum, and the U.S. has millions it sounds hypocritical for a Canadian to be criticizing the Trump Administration for wanting to enforce our immigration laws.
(Researchers at Yale and MIT, using new data streams, estimate that there are between 16 and 29 million people living in the U.S. illegally.)
9
@Montreal Moe Isn't Canada using a merit based entry system? Where is the outrage about that? Crickets.
5
@ann
Our government has finally changed our asylum laws to allow refugees from countries like the USA. Don't blame Canada for the asylum laws that our part our commitment to the USA. If you must blame us, blame us for being ignorant and getting into bed with a country whose economy is so much larger we weren't able to say no.
1
I wonder if the New York Times ever-- even once-- referred to a Democrat in this country as a "hardliner." Seems domestically that is a pejorative reserved exclusively for conservatives, even moderate ones like Cuccinelli. They do, however, use it to describe authoritarian communist dictators abroad.
The New York Times needs to grow up.
37
@Dougal E When the label fits. The Democrats don't hardline anything except their coffee orders.
10
@Dougal E - Moderate?
9
Hardliners like Sanders and Ocassio
8
Kris Kobach is a cartoon-like figure comparable to former EPA Director, Scott Pruitt. I guess that just begs the question, how many cartoon-like figures can this administration tolerate? The combination of unmitigated ego and ignorance has proven to be a headline generator. Trump has built both a personal business empire and presidency on that basis but there are limits to everything.
Kobach ran the short-lived Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity from May 2017 to January 2018 and it was disbanded (without issuing a report) after its efforts to document "widespread voter fraud" were judged a ludicrous exercise in charlatanry. His list of absurd demands merely reflects the unrestrained opportunism and entitlement in this administration that can only be compared to the Teapot Dome era.
But not to fear, there is always a retrograde personality anxious to rub shoulders with people like Donald Trump and Stephen Miller. Enter Kenneth Cuccinelli.
It is with extreme irony (not to mention howling hypocrisy) that the grandchildren of German, Jewish, and Italian immigrants are prepared to mount hysterical campaigns against people whose predecessors came to these shores 19,000 years ago by walking across the Siberian land bridge.
People who gave the world corn, tomatoes, turkeys, potatoes, and cotton. They are driven by social conditions created by the CIA in Central America and who are seeking nothing more than personal safety and useful employment. Shame.
71
@Robert Excellent comments.
8
Ken Cuccinelli lost the governor's race in Virginia in 2013. He wanted to reinstate the anti-sodomy law, sponsored a bill to give legal rights to embryos, is opposed to abortion with no exceptions, and worked to add unnecessary rules to clinics.
The Washington Post said `classic Cuccinelli: ideological activism masquerading as professional legal “advice.”
That does not bode well for border issues.
63
@LK In 2013, I thought that Virginia voters were not given appealing options in the Governor's race as they had to choose between right wing ideologue Ken Cuccinelli and Clinton crony Terry McAuliffe. However, McAuliffe turned out to be a much better governor than I had expected him to be. And Virginia voters will always have many options since Virginia Governors are limited to a single term in office.
6
Ken Cuccinelli proposed a bill requiring women seeking an abortion in Virginia to get an intravaginal ultrasound. Women were outraged, the bill lost and he lost the election in VA after that. I don’t know what he was thinking, but he has the worst judgment ever and is not capable of this job.
117
We need a "hard liner". There is no reason to have a law that isn't enforced. And the more clearly and unequivocally it is enforced, the greater the compliance. We have created the present mess over the last 30 + years since the wrongheaded Reagan Amnesty of 1986 because we have sent a variety of mixed signals and allowed a large population of illegal residents to become a center of gravity to attract still more.
35
Please state which law is not being upheld.
10
@Andrew Wohl
It is illegal to be in this country illegally. For the most part, we are only deporting "criminals" though all illegal "immigrants" are deportable. That includes DACA enrollees, by the way, who remain illegal "immigrants", but have had their deportations stayed by executive -- non legal -- action. It is illegal to employ an illegal "immigrant". Few employers are audited. It is illegal to use a forged Social Security card, yet illegal "immigrants" do this on a daily basis. And, until very recently, the Social Security Administration was no longer sending so called "no match letters" to tell employers their workers were using fake Social Security numbers. And what about sanctuary jurisdictions? Think that might be sending a mixed message?
10
@Andrew Wohl The arrest and repatriation of undocumented aliens is being thwarted by sanctuary city policies for one.
9
Well, after reading Kobach’s hilarious list of demands before he would consider taking the job, I can see why the president decided to move along. There can be one and only one monarch.
There is no doubt that whoever gets the dubious honor will possess the needed qualifications to carry out what has become nightmare on the border for the helpless and oppressed. It definitely takes a special kind of person to perform those duties in conformity with the standards of Stephen Miller. Candidates seem to be available as they rise to the surface of the pool formerly known as the swamp.
Would that the impeachment hearings start, if only to slow down the continuing staffing of these key positions that threaten our democratic system.
31
The only positive thing I can say is, it’s better than Kobach.
13
@April Kane -- No, nothing is worse than Ken. To echo another writer Google "Ken Cuccinelli Michael Mann" for the inside scoop on the gravity and danger of this possible appointment. VA still suffers from that lack of governance.
22
There is a nice irony here, given Trump's attitude toward congressional investigations. Cuccinelli abused his position as the attorney general of Virginia by trying to investigate grants to the climate scientist, Michael Mann. Google "Ken Cuccinelli Michael Mann" and you will get a Wikipedia description of the situation.
42
@John Williams I remember that well, as I lived in Virginia at the time. Cuccinelli is a radical extremist ideologue, antagonistic towards science and truth, and essentially a bully. Trump has a talent for choosing the worst people.
18
To understand whether the term "hard-liner" should apply, it would be helpful to see reporting on what immigration policies and statements Mr. Cuccinelli has supported and/or opposed. It seems the term "hard-liner" is better reserved for an editorial or opinion piece and does not belong in a news article.
For example, NYT journalist Miriam Jordan recently reported on the frustration of US employers who seemingly oppose the Trump administration efforts to enforce our bipartisan-enacted immigration law, including the many employers who recently received "no-match" letters to notify them that they are likely employing illegal aliens. That piece let readers make up their own minds. For example, plenty of readers no doubt consider it "hard-line" to oppose enforcement of immigration law and instead stand with the Koch Brothers and US Chamber of Commerce in support of employment of illegal aliens.
19
@GRH If we can go after Sanctuary Cities by cutting off funding ...What can be done about the Chamber of Commerce
@DP
First,
Make it mandatory for all employers to use e-Verify for all employees and to report all mismatches to ICE.
Second,
tighten up the process for granting H-1B Visas and other visas for supposedly temporary employment, and do not yield to constant exhortations from the Chamber of Commerce for more visas or easier standards.
Third,
do not bundle those steps with amnesties that Dems want.
In short,
stand firm against the UnHoly Alliance between Dems and GOP water carriers for the pro-cheap-labor Chamber of Commerce crowd. Both are selling their respective bases down the river into open borders.
1
@DP, Congress should change the lobbying laws and limit lobbying and donations and communications from such lobbying groups. Chamber of Commerce is considered one of the 2 or 3 most powerful groups in America. It is arguably one of the reasons Congress is so dysfunctional. There was supposedly a study about policies the American people support in large numbers and how those policies go to die in Congress because of the lobbies. But good luck getting Congress to change the law. They are dependent on the access for lobbyists and "revolving door" phenomenon for each individual Congress person to get more wealthy, if and when they lose their seat in Congress. As has been reported, Washington DC and its immediate suburbs have become among the wealthiest areas in the entire country over the last 50 plus years.
1
The crises around the world that are causing migrations are a big problem that will get worse. Trump and the Republicans have decided that they will manipulate the citizenry by propaganda into using the Iron Curtain strategy of fortified and lethal border protection to address the problem. Better to blow people up in minefields or shoot them from guard towers or attack them with missiles from drones than give them a hand where they live.
23
@Casual Observer
Fundamental difference.
The Iron Curtain kept people in.
A wall on our border will keep border jumpers out.
No one will stop anyone from leaving the USA.
1
The only necessity for anyone " working " for Trump is unlimited Lawyers.
Seriously.
35
If I’m not mistaken, don’t think I am, a 16 year old young man was found dead yesterday in custody.
24
@Kathryn Thomas, I don't think you're mistaken, except that a 16 year old is still a child in my book.
13
@Kathryn Thomas If I'm not mistaken, many other young people died within the boundaries of the continental United States yesterday. When will we outlaw mortality?
4
@Kathryn Thomas He should have stayed in Mexico and waited his turn.
3
So, the good news is that the 'czar' will not be Kobach. I should think Trump would prefer a more balanced and nuanced approach to dealing with illegal immigration, including the causes? It does not bode well for the humanity of US immigration policy that Miller has such a bull horn with Trump and supports Cuccinelli.
9
Anybody who has seen Mr. Cuccinelli on CNN will know what he is like. Dishonest as the day is long. Intemperate and inflammatory. Racist and xenophobic, and self-evidently sexist as well. A pro-Trump partisan hack. In short, a proud member of the bad faith club of immoral opportunists, who unhappily shares some of Mr. Trump's most deplorable views. Cuccinelli should not be allowed anywhere near the moving parts of government.
130
I watched him on CNN all the time; he seems like a reasonable person; I didn’t like his stand on abortion and women’s health but I give him high marks on immigration; we need to secure the borders of all illegal immigration if we want to give healthcare and college education for all; just common sense.
9
@JRS - Interesting logic. The guy thinks women are one step above livestock but you'll trust him with something as important as immigration.
18
My vote will not go to a irrational, illegal immigration advocate.
4
Looks like Kris Kobach overplayed his hand. Demanding to be the face of the administration on immigration was really dumb. Trump doesn't want any competition in the media.
54
This will only create more of the disintegration of America's respect around the world. It is so obvious that this Admiistration does not want brown people to enter the U.S.
17
A partner of Miller to write initiatives to make America pure, white, "christian" and English-speaking?
Why select a person from the elite east coast to monitor activities on the southwest border rather than someone from that region that is more attuned to the problem.
In this light, Joe Arpaio would have made more sense in establishing racist policies concerning the influx and, to use Trump's words, infestation of our country.
40
@Dan
Ken Cucinelli is a rigid, right wing Republican and we dodged a bullet in Virginia when he failed in his bid to become governor.
94
@Dan Good idea to hire Sheriff Joe also!