Let's get serious about the mistakes Donald Trump made last Thursday in the sit-down that included six liberal senators, three Democrats – Durbin, Bennet and Menendez – and three Republicans – Graham, Flake and Gardiner. It was not his choice of words. It was that he believed that those involved were actually serious about making a deal for the amnesty of 800,000 young people (some now in their 30s, though we have no absolute proof of age) who claim to have been brought here by their illegal parents as minors.
The meeting was a farce. If these six lawmakers were truly concerned about the DACA young people, many of whom were so young when they arrived they know no other country, then they would have offered a plan that not only dotted the i's and crossed the t's, but also included what the president demanded in return. His demands were simple and straightforward: money to build the wall, an end to chain migration and the elimination of the visa lottery that selects immigrants not by what they can contribute to this country, not from immigrants who are unlikely to become an economic burden to this country, and certainly not from a population that might include terrorists or those with criminal backgrounds, but by the sheer luck of the draw.
This is a deal most of the American people, except the most hard-line amnesty opponents, would applaud.
An even bigger mistake is that he trusted that the Democrats would not try to make a mockery of the meeting. Had he been a seasoned politician, and frankly I'm glad he is not, he would have gone into that meeting with justified skepticism. Better still, he would have allowed the media full access to the entire process.
I am sick and tired of politicians who speak out of both sides of their mouths on the issues. In front of the cameras they sound so reasonable, choosing their words carefully to make their policy appeal to the majority of hardworking Americans. However, behind closed doors they make unreasonable demands that would offend most taxpayers who must foot the bill for their giveaways that selfishly feather their own nests.
This deal offered by the president was never meant to be comprehensive immigration reform. How could it be? Forget DACA. There are still some 20 to 30 million people living in the shadows. Forget DACA. There is still the abuse of the H-1B visa that has put so many of our highly skilled workers in the unemployment lines. These things can come later.
Democrats claim to be so concerned about these DACA young people, but they will not take Trump's deal for an immediate solution to this problem.
Regardless of your political persuasion, regardless of your personal feelings about Trump or any of the other lawmakers involved, we need to stop the illegal aliens, drugs and, yes, those who want to harm us from flooding into this country over our southern border. Some 29,000 were arrested in December alone. If we don't, it will lead to our demise.
We the people need a frank, honest, straight-forward discussion about how to handle some 1 million people we admit legally into this country (in addition to legitimate refugees fleeing oppression) every year to live, work and apply for citizenship.
Do we want to continue the "public charge" doctrine that has been part of our immigration policy since colonial days but has been severely undermined over the last 50 years by unelected judges, weak laws and spineless lawmakers? That policy sought to select only those immigrants who could insure that they had enough skill or resources to guarantee they would not be a burden on taxpayers. In addition, others could be sponsored by a taxpaying family member or employer who pledged to take care of said immigrant if he or she failed to provide for themselves.
Is this what we want, or do we want to eliminate this requirement completely and continue to accept those likely to be a drain on our limited resources or are likely to soak up the jobs needed by those who are just beginning their climb up the economic ladder?
The Democrats give lip service to border security but little else. That is why they have tried to paint this president as a racist. He may be a lot of things but this isn't one of them. It is a tired old play but one they drag out often when they need to deflect attention from the real issues.