9/11/20
Without the assent of Congress, President Trump has remade almost every major facet of America’s immigration system over the past three-plus years, slashing levels of legal and illegal arrivals; refugees and asylum seekers; Muslim and Christian migrants. He has sought to strip citizenship from naturalized Americans and subject “dreamers” raised in this country to deportation. He tried to deter illegal border crossings by sundering families, thereby traumatizing migrant teens, tweens and toddlers. If reelected, it is likely Mr. Trump would do more of the same in pursuit of a Fortress America hostile to newcomers — a goal radically at odds with the nation’s long-term interest and the views and wishes of most Americans. Only a small fraction of his border wall has been built, and Mexico has paid for none of it, but the thrust of his nativist vision has taken root in hundreds of rule changes and that have slammed shut America’s doors. In the process, he has stunted the nation’s traditional role as a beacon to people seeking refuge from tyranny and a pathway to success through hard work. The president and his advisers have justified their policy as a protective stance against migrants who would rob U.S. citizens of jobs and imperil their health. There is plenty of evidence to indicate that most Americans reject Mr. Trump’s fear-mongering and xenophobia.
More than three-quarters of the public — the highest level in two decades — say immigrants are good for the country, according to a recent Gallup poll, and more Americans want immigration expanded rather than cut. Mr. Trump poses as a paragon of strength, but his immigration policies, and the toxic rhetoric that attend them, are grounded in fear — a fear most Americans do not share. He conflates undocumented migrants generally with vicious criminal gangs such as MS-13, accusing Democrats of wanting them all to “pour into and infest our Country.” The specter of such an “infestation,” which evokes Nazi rhetoric that likened Jews to vermin, is a naked attempt to frighten Americans, and an invitation to vote their fears. Such fear is groundless. At the Republican convention last month, Mr. Trump presided over a naturalization ceremony for five newly minted citizens, a baldfaced attempt to slap a gloss of humanity on a president whose attacks on immigrants suggest he has none. Let no one be fooled. The tableaux of caged migrant children, torn from their parents’ arms, should be among the most enduring images produced by the president’s policies.
