Trump Wins One on Immigration By Edward Lulie
Tariffs don’t work. Or so the talking heads kept saying. We watched for days as Democrats and Republicans lambasted President Trump’s threat to impose steeper and steeper tariffs on Mexico unless and until that country takes concrete action to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing into the United States.
“I think it’s both bad politically and bad economically and I don’t think it’s really going to help solve the immigration problem, either, which is what Mr. Trump said he’s trying to attack,” said John Negroponte, the former U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Nations, and Iraq.
“This is a stunningly stupid idea on many levels,” wrote Eric Boehm at the libertarian Reason magazine. “Making it more expensive to import goods from Mexico is a pretty roundabout way to get Mexico to change its border policies.”
“Mr. Trump is blaming Mexico for a mess it can’t solve,” the Wall Street Journal editorialized
Well, now we know.
Late Friday, President Trump announced that an agreement was reached to suspend the threatened tariffs “indefinitely” in exchange for Mexico agreeing to house many of the illegal immigrants who are overtaxing America’s broken asylum system. Instead of releasing so-called asylum-seekers into the interior of the United States, often never to be seen again, tens of thousands will remain in Mexico while they await their court dates.
Clearly, the threat of tariffs works very well.
Naturally, Democrats aren’t happy. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) immediately criticized the agreement and scoffed that we won’t hear any more about the problem now that President Trump has solved it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) meantime criticized the deal, saying in a press statement, “We are deeply disappointed by the Administration’s expansion of its failed Remain-in-Mexico policy, which violates the rights of asylum seekers under U.S. law and fails to address the root causes of Central American migration.”
It’s hard to see how the deal “violates the rights of asylum seekers” when the Mexican government has agreed to extend employment and services to many of the Central and South Americans allegedly fleeing political instability and unrest in their home countries. (Most of these “migrants,” in fact, are looking for gainful employment.)
This is a huge win for President Trump. But watch how the media will seek to diminish, attack, and then ignore it.
Did Friday’s deal solve the border crisis? No, but it’s a big help.
As Breitbart News reported Saturday, “Trump’s deal with the Mexican government likely will allow border officials to end the catch-and-release of Central American migrants.”
“Ending catch-and-release is a huge win for Americans and Trump because it means border officials now have a legal alternative to the catch-and-release rules that normally allow migrants to legally enter the United States if they bring children and claim asylum,” Breitbart’s Neil Munro writes.
Is there any doubt that the Left’s desire for unlimited “asylum” and open borders are nothing more than thinly veiled schemes to fill the voter rolls with illegals (something we’re told never, ever happens)? When you hear Democratic presidential hopefuls advocating for the expansion of “voting rights,” the truth begins to emerge. Mention voter ID and the wails of voter suppression blast like an air raid warning. The Left continues to pretend there is no problem.
In the days to come, the Left is going to get more frantic. This political victory on immigration will likely be ratified by the courts. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month ruled that the administration’s “Remain in Mexico” may continue even as the challenges to the policy wind through the federal courts.
Now watch carefully as the media tries to deny a big win for Trump. Does the deal solve the illegal immigration problem? No, it doesn’t—Congress still needs to act. But after a series of disappointments for Trump supporters, Friday’s deal looks like very real progress. And it may just be a key for President Trump’s re-election prospects.
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