Posted on 08/23/2018 12:59:52 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Donald Trump was serious when he campaigned on stricter enforcement of immigration laws. With “zero-tolerance” for illegal border crossers, a travel moratorium from certain countries and stricter limits on the number of legal immigrants, the president has kept his promise (short of building the wall) to reduce the number of newcomers to the United States.
Even people who disagree with Trump’s approach on immigration — or think they disagree — should support him. Because it’s not about what might be the best immigration policy but rather who gets to make it.
The president, in his crude way, is simply standing up for the right of the people to be represented by their government and for their wishes to have some voice in their governing. In other words, it’s about the consent of the governed to say what their country is — and “who we are.”
See the basic point
The media has long focused on Trump’s incendiary remarks, conflating his often-savage denunciations of criminals who are illegal immigrants with immigrants in general. But the press overlooks or dismisses his basic point, which he stated and restated throughout his campaign: “A nation without borders is not a nation.”
Ronald Reagan, who famously spoke of America as a “shining city on a hill” and a beacon for immigrants, said almost the same thing ahead of his decision to extend amnesty to 2 million unlawful aliens (the statutory designation) in 1986.
America is a nation whose first duty is to its citizens. That’s why, as historian Victor Davis Hanson points out, Trump loves to use the first-person plural possessive at his rallies: “our” miners, “our” farmers, “our” vets and “our” workers.
Trump grasped something that few of his ostensible Republican allies in Congress have not: Americans by and large will welcome anyone who is willing to work and contribute to make this country a better place, but not at their expense. What’s good for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (a longtime proponent of “comprehensive immigration reform”) is not necessarily good for the rest of the nation.
But are Trump’s policies any good?
Separating families at the border may not have been required by law, but a reading of the law certainly allowed for it (until a federal judge ruled otherwise). Whether or not it made sense to separate young children from their mothers, the alternative was either to detain children alongside other adults or simply let illegal border crossers go free on their own recognizance. That would have been just the sort of “catch-and-release” policy the president vowed to end.
What else is there?
If Trump’s enforcement efforts are bad, then what’s the alternative?
Prominent Democrats — including U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — have called for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws.
I say: Go for it. Campaign on that! Let’s put it to a vote and see how it shakes out.
For what it’s worth, public opinion is generally somewhere between the Trump restrictionist camp on the right and the shut down ICE and open borders camp on the left.
A Politico/Morning Consult poll in July found only 25 percent of voters favored abolishing the agency. Another 21 percent were undecided, and 54 percent were opposed. A HuffPost/YouGov poll conducted around the same time yielded similar results. Most respondents admitted they hadn’t even heard of the idea. Of those that had, just 21 percent said they supported getting rid of ICE.
In other words, the public in general looks at immigration in a somewhat more nuanced way than do our elites, who tend to answer objections to greater immigration enforcement with two words: “That’s racist.”
It’s not racist
Sovereignty is not racist. Consent of the governed is not racist. Consent, in fact, underpins our immigration laws, or at least it used to. As the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1884: “No one can become a citizen of a nation without its consent.”
A century later, the left-leaning philosopher Michael Walzer argued in his book “Spheres of Justice” that “Admission and exclusion are the core of communal independence...without them, there could not be communities of character, historically ongoing associations of men and women with some special commitment to one another and some special sense of their common life.”
In short, consent is a vital part of what makes us “who we are.”
Trump has definitely inspired me to own my voice and embrace ‘resistance’ rather than shirk in the face of it. I am hardly ever in conservative-majority environments so his boldness has meant a lot.
If you disagree with POTUS Trump’s “approach” to ending our Open Borders, you should be forced to have all the Exterior Doors taken off your House and have all the Fencing surrounding your Property removed as well.
That and being forced to take an Illegal Invader Family into your Home while they await their Deportation Trials.
Oh yeah, of they commit any Crimes, you can pay the Fines and share a Jail Cell with them.
Deal?
What state do you live in?
Crude? I grew up in the area. I married a Bronx boy. If you don’t state your boundaries loud and clear, you won’t live long.
California.
I’m on vacation in Norway and an Innkeepers parting remarks to my wife and I were “so what do you think of your President”? Of course my wife immediately answered, “we support our President” and “don’t believe everything you hear from the news media”. I found it interesting he would even ask such a question.
Your story reminded me of this post-election observation by an American who had to deal with Europeans gnashing their teeth after PDJT’s victory. It’s inspiring.
http://thefederalist.com/2016/11/16/watched-donald-trump-blow-hole-european-elites-minds/
Who’s living in all those “gated communities”, but Democrats?
Even people who disagree with Trump’s approach on immigration — or think they disagree — should support him. Because it’s not about what might be the best immigration policy but rather who gets to make it. The president, in his crude way, is simply standing up for the right of the people to be represented by their government and for their wishes to have some voice in their governing. In other words, it’s about the consent of the governed to say what their country is — and “who we are.” ... Sovereignty is not racist. Consent of the governed is not racist. Consent, in fact, underpins our immigration laws, or at least it used to. As the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1884: “No one can become a citizen of a nation without its consent.”
An op-ed from the SacBee? Amazing. Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
It is a foregone conclusion that before anything good can be said about President Trump, the. writer has to precede his/her remarks with a snarky critical personal attack. It is as if a negative remark is a mandatory throw in to stay in league with their fellow anti-Trump jackals. This is the price a no-holds bared, self assured, leader who speaks his mind must endure from the envious, unconfident, diffident weasels of the world.
I reject his critics who say Trump is "crude" or "savage" for daring to comment on all of this.
Its about time we had someone who is not reticent about defending our Nation......and the interests of Americans.
Gingrich put it another way----Democrats are orgasmic over Cohen and Manafort----but midterms will center on Mollie Tibbett's death at the hands of an illegal.
Democrat presidential wannabes — NY Gov Andrew Cuomo, Cali Sen Kamala Harris and NY Sen Kirsten Gillibrand —
want ICE abolished. Who will keep Americans safe?
Clearly, Democrats have become a danger to us all. They are now the party of:
<><> People who hate and denigrate America.
<><> People who foisted on our Nation a Muslim foreigner who hated America.
<><> People hanging on to flawed leaders Bill, Hillary, Nancy.
<><> People who believe transsexual cakes are more important than a thriving U.S. economy.
<><> People who believe plastic straws are the enemy.
<><> People who believe what’s wrong with America can best be solved with more convicts voting.
<><> People who “celebrate” abortion for convenience.
<><> People who put killer illegals before innocents like Kate Steinle and Mollie Tibbets.
<><>People turning school-age children into fodder for pedophiles.
<><> People who cheer the destruction of American heritage and its monuments.
<><> People who deplore Christian values.
<><> People who openly support the legalization of sexual perversions.
<><> People who openly sow the culture with confusion.
<><> People who elevate the lives of savage gangs like MS-13 above the lives of Americans.
It was a wise response your wife gave. Trump is the most talked about and most consequential leader in the whole world.
The November when Trump wins a second time and the foreign media is forced to cover the incarceration of many Obama era traitors and press, the world will come to understand the deep bias of the media.
Anyone who tells it like it is--speaks the truth--is going to be labeled crude and savage.
Perhaps the truth is crude and savage, which is why so many people avoid it like the plague...and then wonder why they fail at life.
It’s not racist
Sovereignty is not racist. Consent of the governed is not racist. Consent, in fact, underpins our immigration laws, or at least it used to.
As the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1884: “No one can become a citizen of a nation without its consent.”
The judge who said Trump can’t block liberal bullies on social media, you’re a public utility ... ignores the fact that this means Twitter can’t be throttling Tweets’ by other communication officials either (as they have been), because they, too, are a public utility.
By logical extension, you can’t block conservative figures from Dennis Prager to Alex Jones because they must have equal access to this public space.
I reject his critics who say Trump is “crude” or “savage” for daring to comment on all of this.
* * *
Unfortunately the people the author is trying to convince have to be signaled that something is bad about Trump before being told something “to consider”.
The country has been snowflaked. And this snowflaking has enabled the secret cabal to grow and consume our government.
Without Trump, I don’t know how we can escape this madness. God protect him.
I had never seen that article before but its perfect. Anything the Yurps want or think....we should do the EXACT OPPOSITE.
I know these people. I lived in 4 European countries. I did exchange programs for college and both of my grad degrees over there. I worked over there twice as an expat in two completely different professions. Individually, they’re nice enough but collectively, Yurps...ie Western Europeans - ESPECIALLY ELITES - are an utter disaster. They also do not have our best interests at heart and that comes through loud and clear. They are insufferably arrogant, think themselves the pinnacle of civilization and cannot understand why everybody else on earth doesn’t share this opinion and want to be just like them.
Trump critics are nothing but grown-up schoolyard bullies..... still living in the past when they’d bully a kid’s lunch money out of him.
Now they’re after bigger game......a president’s scalp.
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