Trump on Immigration

This evening, Donald Trump gave his long awaited speech on immigration. His 10 point plan follows.

1. The US will build a wall at the southern border. 2. Trump will end the catch and release policy. Illegals will be detained until they can be deported. 3. There will be zero tolerance for criminal aliens; with Trump noting there are 2 million currently in the US. Trump plans on hiring 5000 more border patrol agents, putting them at the border. He will seek passage of Kate's law, with strong mandatory sentences for criminal aliens, followed by deportation.

4. Trump will block funding for sanctuary cities. I never did understand how local officials could get away with violating federal immigration laws. I do not think Obama or Clinton would allow local authorities to refuse to send tax dollars owed to the Feds. 5. Trump will revoke what he calls unconstitutional executive orders, and actually enforce the laws on the books. There's a concept. There will be no more amnesty for those here illegally.

6. Trump will suspend issuance of visas to any place where the US is unable to conduct an adequate screening process. Immigration from such areas will be suspended until we have a "proper and extreme vetting" procedure in place. Trump made specific reference to Syrian and Libyan refugees. He says that the Gulf states should pay for the creation of "safe zones" for those refugees - in their region. The US would be willing to supervise the process. He noted how Clinton wants to bring hundreds of thousands of those refugees here, with little ability to know what their true intentions are in coming here.

7. Trump will ensure that other countries actually take back those people that we deport. Currently, he says that 23 countries refuse to take their own citizens back. So, we just keep them. Incredibly, according to Trump, the State Department under Clinton kept issuing visas to people from those 23 countries. That's really showing them that the US will not be pushed around. 8. Trump wants to complete a biometric entry/exit visa tracking system, noting that in 2015 500,000 people overstayed their visas. Such a system, per Trump, was recommended by the 9/11 commission in order to enhance national security. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were still here in the US on expired visas.

9. Trump wants to put an end to the incentives for people to come here illegally - for healthcare, education, and various government benefits. He asserted that 62% of illegal immigrants use some form of government assistance. 10. Finally, he wants to see reform of the legal immigration laws in a way that will serve the best interests of the American people. I am not convinced, however, that his plan to renegotiate trade deals is either feasible or in the best interests of the US. He has not convinced me that it is the government's job to tell businesses where they may operate.

Overall, however, Trump has proposed a serious and substantive plan. I expect that tomorrow's headlines in the mainstream media will focus on Trump's trip to Mexico in order to meet with the Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto. I expect that the media will follow Clinton's lead and criticize Trump for making that visit. Then again. Trump went to Louisiana following the terrible flooding there. Obama could not interrupt his golfing vacation, and Clinton was, what, too busy?

Trump: "President Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in gross dereliction of duty by surrendering the safety of the American people to open borders." If you disagree with that, please explain how Obama's and Clinton's support for sanctuary cities protects the safety of the American people. Trump: the "central issue is not the needs of the 11 million illegal immigrants...(but) the well-being of the American people."

There is a clear choice in this election. You either believe the United States of America should continue to survive as a sovereign entity, or you do not. If you believe in open borders, then you do not support the sovereignty of the USA, and Clinton is your candidate.