Trump still tough on immigration, but softens slightly
Donald Trump鈥檚 tone about undocumented immigrants is as tough as ever. But his proposed policies for dealing with the estimated 11 million people resident in the US illegally showed just the smallest glimmer of a softening.
That鈥檚 perhaps the bottom line from Trump鈥檚 much-anticipated speech on immigration policy in Arizona on Wednesday night.
In some ways the address induced a bit of whiplash in anyone who鈥檇 followed the subject over the last week. Trump and some Trump surrogates have used different words, such as 鈥渉umane鈥� and 鈥渃ompassionate,鈥� in regards to immigration in recent weeks. Wednesday morning Trump鈥檚 surprise visit to Mexico seemed a harbinger of a more subdued 鈥� some would say realistic 鈥� message. He thanked Mexican President Enrique Pe帽a Nieto and emphasized the ties between the two countries.
But in Phoenix the persona that might be called Rally Trump reappeared. Trump was all zing and zap, emphasizing from the very beginning that he would build a wall, a physical wall, a big beautiful impenetrable wall 鈥渨ith above and below ground sensors,鈥� to secure the nation鈥檚 southern border.
Eventually he lumped rival Hillary Clinton in with undocumented criminals and mused about whether he should deport her, too.
Pared down, Trump鈥檚 policy message might be this: He would prioritize the removal of undocumented criminals who have committed crimes. Estimates from pro- and anti-immigration groups put this number at anywhere from 690,000 to 2 million people.
He said that police and other law enforcement officers know who these people are and are prevented from arresting them. There鈥檚 little evidence to back up that claim and the Obama administration has prioritized the removal of criminal undocumented immigrants, as Trump himself has acknowledged in the past.
鈥淒ay one, my first hour in office, those people are gone,鈥� Trump said in Phoenix.
Trump added that he would prioritize removal of people who have overstayed visas in the US. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that about 525,000 visitors overstayed their visas in fiscal 2015 鈥� a rate of about 1.1 percent of all such visitors.
Then Trump said he would triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and create a new 鈥渟pecial deportation task force鈥� to chase the most serious threats.
He said he would cancel the 鈥渋llegal鈥� Obama executive orders that have allowed some undocumented immigrants to remain in the US, such as the so-called 鈥淒reamers,鈥� children who were brought in illegally by their parents. And he vowed to eliminate what he called the lure of legal status, something which he insisted draws hundreds of thousands of people into the US.
鈥淲e will break the cycle of amnesty,鈥� he said.
Except . . .
Trump did back away from his previous vow to round up and deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. Or, at least, he talked about it in a much longer time frame.
What he said was that after his tough enforcement measures are in place, and after, as he put it, 鈥渋llegal immigration is ended,鈥� then the US can have a discussion about what to do with those undocumented immigrants who chose to ride out his policies and remain in the US during that time.
鈥淭rump didn鈥檛 say it, but most Republican immigration hawks would interpret that to mean that some sort of legal status would lie in the future for those illegal immigrants who wait for years until enforcement is fully enacted,鈥� of the Washington Examiner.
But this is a subtle point, and given the context of Trump鈥檚 insistence on other tougher measures, Trump supporters who had worried that he might be softening his immigration measures in a significant way were relieved and pleased at his overall approach.
鈥淚 hear Churchill had a nice turn of phrase, but Trump鈥檚 immigration speech is the most magnificent speech ever given,鈥� conservative author Ann Coulter after it was over.
On the other hand, one key Latino supporter of Trump鈥檚 candidacy expressed regret and anguish over the GOP nominee鈥檚 words.
鈥淭his is how I feel: disappointed and misled,鈥� , president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, following Trump鈥檚 Phoenix address.
