This past week has been somewhat extraordinary when it comes to President Trump and the issue of immigration. On Wednesday, after clearly “winning” the Schumer Shutdown and forcing the Democrats back to the negotiating table, President Trump made the earth-shattering revelation that not only was a weak sort of amnesty available for the Dreamers but that he was willing to consider a path to full citizenship. Trump said that if the Democrats could come off $30 billion in funding for the border wall, place strict limits on chain migration, and put an end to the Diversity Visa Lottery, he was willing to offer DACA recipients the chance to become citizens in 10-12 years.
Whoa.
These comments did not land well among many of Trump’s supporters, some of whom saw it as a clear betrayal of his campaign promises. Breitbart took an unusually combative stance against the president, for instance, labeling him “Amnesty Don” for what they perceived as an unnecessary surrender to the Democrats. Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters this week that he could not believe that Republicans were “inexplicably” running to the left of Obama to break their promises to voters. There were even a few rounds of MAGA-hat burnings from supporters who felt the president had betrayed them.
But if the reaction on the right was bad, the reaction on the left was even worse.
The pro-illegal immigration group United We Dream released a statement rejecting the deal and calling the president a racist.
“Let’s call this proposal for what it is: a white supremacist ransom note,” said Greisa Martinez Rosas, the advocacy director for United We Dream (and an illegal immigrant herself). “Trump and Stephen Miller killed DACA and created the crisis that immigrant youth are facing. They have taken immigrant youth hostage, pitting us against our own parents, Black immigrants and our communities in exchange for our dignity. To Miller and Trump’s white supremacist proposal, immigrant youth say: No.”
Well, Ms. Rosas, your “dignity” was never on the table. It’s your legal status as an American that’s at issue, and that is not the forgone conclusion that you seem to believe it is. You don’t seem to understand that you have NO legal leg to stand on and that it is ONLY by the graciousness of actual American citizens that you have any chance of staying. You talk about Trump using Dreamers as bargaining chips without realizing that you have NO bargaining leverage. Illegal immigrants who turn their nose up at a deal like this are the ultimate choosy beggars, and we’re beginning to sympathize with people who would like to see all of you rounded up and deported tomorrow.
This week may have been the final proof that there is no good reason for Trump to negotiate with the open-border terrorists that call themselves the Democratic Party. It’s a loser politically and it’s a loser culturally. Let DACA expire and let the Democrats explain to Hispanic activists why they wouldn’t accept a deal. We’re rapidly losing interest in the so-called “plight” of young illegal immigrants.
