The recent rescindment of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals for those youth that were brought to the United States, as children, by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has brought up the old canard of illegal immigration to the surface -- an often ugly fight that pits those that feel there is a difference between native born Americans, and those that migrate from other countries.
Adding to an age old nativist debate that reached its zenith in the 1860s, with the “Know Nothing Party” when the country saw a steady influx of the Irish, that created an ugly core of prejudice, that resulted, in anti-Catholicism, coupled with racist cartoons that tried to cobble together “atypical” Irish facial features, with images of mitre-clad snapping alligators at America’s shore, at its worst; and only marginally better with vaudeville characters of Paddy the Irishman, with his whisky and brogue.
Now with three-quarters of the beneficiaries of the DACA being Mexican, much of the same ugliness has been transferred to them. Then topping a slew of long-held negative, and racist comments, came presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who characterized, in a stump speech, that nearly all Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. were rapists, and murderers.
Now, as president, we have been told that he has wrestled with the dilemma of the DACA youth, and wanted to be fair, yet his actions belie that narrative, as he has held firm to his base, and their mantra of “build the wall,” amid the chants of “USA! USA!” hovering in the background like a movie score.
Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign capitalized, largely, on fear-based prejudices that many Americans harbored towards immigrants from Mexico, and Central America. Add to that came the age-old pejoratives such as “wetbacks” and “jungle monkeys”, which stand in direct contrast to the stated ideals written on base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The quote is from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, “New Colossus”, and the welcoming sight of Lady Liberty, must have warmed the heart of many immigrants, not only from Ireland, but from Southern Italy, and Eastern Europe, to name but a few, fleeing from famine, war, and hunger.
It’s been often said, that had these Mexicans, and Central Americans, come from Northern Europe, and been Protestants, the hue and cry, for border walls, would be absent.
The resulting furor has not, as Lincoln said, been the “better angels of our nature,” yet many people in the nation cling to the negative, as well as the pejoratives, and Trump cleverly played on these prejudices, rallying his base, as well as the hackles of those opposing him.
Going even further is the attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi to come to some sort of agreement for the DACA youth, last week, whose enterprise and hard work has earned them even bipartisan support.
Stymied by the waffling that is characteristic of the 45th president, they found themselves at odds with their press statements, and those of the White House press secretary, who denied that there was an agreement, only to state that no final agreement had been agreed upon.
Long a divisive factor in the GOP, between hardliners, and those moderates that look towards a path to citizenship, the dominant force erupted into a chorus of condemnation, after the announcement of the potential Schumer-Pelosi deal by Breitbart News that labelled Trump as “Amnesty Don”.
Fast segue to TV personality, and conservative radio host, Dr. Laura Ingraham who has been quoted as saying: “The No. 1 reason I voted for him was for the immigration. I want the wall. I want it to be seen in space like the Chinese wall.”
The issue has had a long shelf life for the Republicans, in what has often been seen as a litmus test for loyalty; and those that are more moderate, and are in accord with a belief that the DACA dilemma can be solved with an agreement for stronger, and more, border security, now face the vociferous voices of anger, from the extreme right, and who shouted so loudly that Trump was forced to state, “The wall will happen.”
For all of the fear, the actual illegal immigration on the southern border has actually decreased from its peak in 2009, and went lower in 2015, as has the influx of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, according to the Pew Research Center, who concluded that, “There were 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2015, a small but statistically significant decline from the Center’s estimate of 11.3 million for 2009.”
In addition, Mexicans have plummeted as the dominant group as unauthorized immigrants. But, for many, including Sessions, immigration, illegal, or legal, is the call to arms, with almost religious fervor, statistics, or not, with a deeply held conviction that this is not simply, a litmus test, but the defining issue for the GOP.
Much of that opposition began as early as 1986 when President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which regulated employer identification of the immigration status of their employers and attempted to, but was not entirely successful in sanctions for employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants.
While the bill seems relatively mild, by even the standards of that day, and allowed less than 4 billion for legal immigrants, with some caveats, as knowledge of the history of the U.S. and its government, and some English proficiency; the base, even for the avuncular Ronald Reagan, fumed.
Then George H.W. Bush came in with more in the form of the 1990 Immigration Act, that brought waves of legal immigrants to the U.S. in predetermined fiscal years, and and created tiered categories of admission, that survive to this day; and then President Obama, with DACA, which came on the heels of a failed immigration bill that fell short of the 60 votes needed to override a filibuster.
Now the wrath be upon them that do not agree, and the deepening divide, and into the quagmire came Pelosi at a planned event, on Monday, in San Francisco, innocently and unsuspecting, to promote her proposal to Trump, for the DACA youth was confronted by a group of “angry young immigrants chanting "all of us or none of us" shutting down the news conference.” reported National Public Radio.
“Chanting "we are not a bargaining chip," the protesters upstaged Pelosi and her fellow Democrats. The confrontation went on for about 30 minutes, according to one published report. The chant was an apparent reference to reports that the Democrats might agree to Trump's demands for enhanced border security and other measures in exchange for an agreement to protect the estimated 800,000 recipients of the Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.”
It’s going to get a lot rougher and the number one question is whether, the Dems can win playing by the rules; will Trump score a legislative victory by triangulation, that is by working with the Democrats, or will his base, fueled by the thundering, and condemning rhetoric of Ingraham and the redoubtable Ann Coulter, who in a Twitter rant, said, “At this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached,” survive unscathed, even in office.
Now with three-quarters of the beneficiaries of the DACA being Mexican, much of the same ugliness has been transferred to them. Then topping a slew of long-held negative, and racist comments, came presidential candidate, Donald Trump, who characterized, in a stump speech, that nearly all Mexican immigrants coming to the U.S. were rapists, and murderers.
Now, as president, we have been told that he has wrestled with the dilemma of the DACA youth, and wanted to be fair, yet his actions belie that narrative, as he has held firm to his base, and their mantra of “build the wall,” amid the chants of “USA! USA!” hovering in the background like a movie score.
Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign capitalized, largely, on fear-based prejudices that many Americans harbored towards immigrants from Mexico, and Central America. Add to that came the age-old pejoratives such as “wetbacks” and “jungle monkeys”, which stand in direct contrast to the stated ideals written on base of the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The quote is from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, “New Colossus”, and the welcoming sight of Lady Liberty, must have warmed the heart of many immigrants, not only from Ireland, but from Southern Italy, and Eastern Europe, to name but a few, fleeing from famine, war, and hunger.
It’s been often said, that had these Mexicans, and Central Americans, come from Northern Europe, and been Protestants, the hue and cry, for border walls, would be absent.
The resulting furor has not, as Lincoln said, been the “better angels of our nature,” yet many people in the nation cling to the negative, as well as the pejoratives, and Trump cleverly played on these prejudices, rallying his base, as well as the hackles of those opposing him.
Going even further is the attempt by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi to come to some sort of agreement for the DACA youth, last week, whose enterprise and hard work has earned them even bipartisan support.
Stymied by the waffling that is characteristic of the 45th president, they found themselves at odds with their press statements, and those of the White House press secretary, who denied that there was an agreement, only to state that no final agreement had been agreed upon.
Long a divisive factor in the GOP, between hardliners, and those moderates that look towards a path to citizenship, the dominant force erupted into a chorus of condemnation, after the announcement of the potential Schumer-Pelosi deal by Breitbart News that labelled Trump as “Amnesty Don”.
Fast segue to TV personality, and conservative radio host, Dr. Laura Ingraham who has been quoted as saying: “The No. 1 reason I voted for him was for the immigration. I want the wall. I want it to be seen in space like the Chinese wall.”
The issue has had a long shelf life for the Republicans, in what has often been seen as a litmus test for loyalty; and those that are more moderate, and are in accord with a belief that the DACA dilemma can be solved with an agreement for stronger, and more, border security, now face the vociferous voices of anger, from the extreme right, and who shouted so loudly that Trump was forced to state, “The wall will happen.”
For all of the fear, the actual illegal immigration on the southern border has actually decreased from its peak in 2009, and went lower in 2015, as has the influx of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico, according to the Pew Research Center, who concluded that, “There were 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2015, a small but statistically significant decline from the Center’s estimate of 11.3 million for 2009.”
In addition, Mexicans have plummeted as the dominant group as unauthorized immigrants. But, for many, including Sessions, immigration, illegal, or legal, is the call to arms, with almost religious fervor, statistics, or not, with a deeply held conviction that this is not simply, a litmus test, but the defining issue for the GOP.
Much of that opposition began as early as 1986 when President Reagan signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which regulated employer identification of the immigration status of their employers and attempted to, but was not entirely successful in sanctions for employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants.
While the bill seems relatively mild, by even the standards of that day, and allowed less than 4 billion for legal immigrants, with some caveats, as knowledge of the history of the U.S. and its government, and some English proficiency; the base, even for the avuncular Ronald Reagan, fumed.
Then George H.W. Bush came in with more in the form of the 1990 Immigration Act, that brought waves of legal immigrants to the U.S. in predetermined fiscal years, and and created tiered categories of admission, that survive to this day; and then President Obama, with DACA, which came on the heels of a failed immigration bill that fell short of the 60 votes needed to override a filibuster.
Now the wrath be upon them that do not agree, and the deepening divide, and into the quagmire came Pelosi at a planned event, on Monday, in San Francisco, innocently and unsuspecting, to promote her proposal to Trump, for the DACA youth was confronted by a group of “angry young immigrants chanting "all of us or none of us" shutting down the news conference.” reported National Public Radio.
“Chanting "we are not a bargaining chip," the protesters upstaged Pelosi and her fellow Democrats. The confrontation went on for about 30 minutes, according to one published report. The chant was an apparent reference to reports that the Democrats might agree to Trump's demands for enhanced border security and other measures in exchange for an agreement to protect the estimated 800,000 recipients of the Obama-era program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.”
It’s going to get a lot rougher and the number one question is whether, the Dems can win playing by the rules; will Trump score a legislative victory by triangulation, that is by working with the Democrats, or will his base, fueled by the thundering, and condemning rhetoric of Ingraham and the redoubtable Ann Coulter, who in a Twitter rant, said, “At this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached,” survive unscathed, even in office.
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