The following are my thoughts on the two hour meeting President Trump held
with members of Congress on immigration, one hour which was broadcast live
and available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/
Although it was reported as a meeting on immigration, a single issue, the 'Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that allows individuals who illegally entered
our country as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of 'deferred action'
from deportation and eligible to work, got the most attention.
If you not aware, DACA is an Executive Order of President Obama who defended
it stating "This is a temporary stopgap measure that lets us focus resources wisely
while giving a degree of relief and hope to talented, driven, patriotic young people."
For a president to offer a 'stopgap measure' without asking Congress to offer
legislation shows he is not serious, proven by the fact Congress has done nothing,
until Trump arrived and stated he is 'ending DACA', and left it up to Congress to
authorize a lawful replacement.
What DACA did was open the door to an avenue that further complicates
addressing illegal entry, spec
our border.
President Trump opened the meeting by saying he wants to see the estimated
800,000 DACA eligible children, now adults, stay as an "act of love", but also
stated he wants to end the extension to their relatives, known as 'chain migration'
and end the 'lottery system' used to select immigrants to apply for entry/ Both
are essential in any comprehensive immigration overhaul.
As I watched the entire one hour video it was easy to see the differences between
Democrat and Republican approaches to immigration.
Democrats, not surprisingly, used their time to focus on DACA, pointing to
the many who have contributed since arriving, even going so far as ignoring
Trump's opening remarks and saying we should extend this program now
and address border security"later" as Sen. Feinstein has been pushing.
Some Republicans, such as Sen. Tom Cotton, took issue with Feinstein suggestion
saying border security now is essential, as it has been the decades old forgotten
promise, and he reminded everyone what President Trump said at the outset.
This influx of children migrating here was not unintended consequences
of DACA, it was deliberate and coordinated effort to overwhelm even further
an overwhelmed broken immigration system.
DACA was the brilliantly planned and coy move to once again use the Democrat
'ace in the hole', empathy, to misdirect attention from immigration.
DACA also sent a signal to Mexico and Central America by President Obama,
"send us your children", they will be allowed to stay, and led to thousands
coming unaccompanied for almost a decade!
My assessment of the event differs from the many conservatives I respect.
While they point to comments of Trump as troubling as "act of love",
"comprehensive" and "I will sign the bill" as a signal the president will
not hold his campaign promises, I take exception.
My take, President Trump will strengthen not only the border, but the
entire immigration system. "Merit based" was never mentioned prior
to Trump saying in on the campaign trail. Now, we hear it is essential
for our country to have the 'best and brightest' from around the world.
Also, Trump's "act of love" remark took away the Democrats 'empathy
card' so he cannot be portrayed as heartless, even as he insisted ending
on 'chain migration'.
Take note President Trump had ample opportunity to shame the
invited members of Congress for their failures but did not, aside
from mentioning "ear marks" used by Congress to fund projects
without legislating, which received some laughter.
In closing, President Trump has set the table and let the American people
see for themselves and listen in on the conversation.
Don't be dissuaded by what others say about President Trump, most
were wrong in the past and probably are now.
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