Donald Trump’s immigration plan
The key points of Donald Trump’s immigration plan:
A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation. Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans.
This statement makes Trump the first presidential candidate in decades to say that he is looking out for the interests of American citizens instead of citizens of other countries.
The cost of building a permanent border wall pales mightily in comparison to what American taxpayers spend every single year on dealing with the fallout of illegal immigration on their communities, schools and unemployment offices.
Once again, the only candidate who says that immigration harms the economy. Every other candidate thinks that illegal immigrants magically benefit the economy.
End birthright citizenship. This remains the biggest magnet for illegal immigration. By a 2:1 margin, voters say it’s the wrong policy, including Harry Reid who said “no sane country” would give automatic citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.
Yes!
We need to control the admission of new low-earning workers in order to: help wages grow, get teenagers back to work, aid minorities’ rise into the middle class, help schools and communities falling behind, and to ensure our immigrant members of the national family become part of the American dream.
Only candidate to say that legal immigration is also a problem!
Immigration moderation. Before any new green cards are issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employers will have to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed immigrant and native workers.
Once again, Trump talks about less legal immigration.
Not quoted, but he also approves of increased enforcement of immigration laws, deporting criminals and people caught at the borders instead of releasing them into the United States, and he is going to crack down on companies who use H-1Bs to pay lower salaries to foreigners instead of hiring Americans.
This is the immigration plan that most of the readers of this blog have supported.
Donald Trump has my complete endorsement for President of the United States. It doesn’t matter that he seems to not act presidential. The biggest problem facing America is out-of-control immigration and Trump is the only candidate with a serious and tough platform to stop illegal immigration and reduce legal immigration, and to help American citizen workers.
Lion of the Blogosphere 
Ann Coulter said Trumps immigration plan was the greatest political document since the Magna Carta. Scott Adams on why he thinks Trump will win: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/126589300371/clown-genius
Dave Pinsen
August 16, 2015 at 8:04 PM
She also said that Trump is getting all his info from her latest book. Which doesnt bode well.
While I would enjoy the spectacle of a generation of slacktivist college students freaking out over a Trump Presidency thats about the only benefit. I would much prefer Cruz.
OT: When does the Democrat base wake up to the fact that their party is only running pale frail candidates? There has to be some black/hispanic office holder who thinks this is their chance to make a move….
cluster of grapes
August 17, 2015 at 10:49 AM
Although Cruz had recently come out in opposing amnesty (he’s only hinted at it before) he also supports increasing legal immigration by many times. Unclear as to why.
Mike Street Station
August 17, 2015 at 11:38 AM
Cruz is the Newt Gingrich of 2016. He has educated himself on the issues and can formulate right-wing stances. The problem is that it is insincere; he is a leftist on the inside. He’s a very good actor though, he even managed to snag a rare endorsement from Ron Paul.
T
August 17, 2015 at 12:24 PM
How is Cruz a “leftists on the inside”?
He have to be running this con since he was in high school.
cluster of grapes
August 17, 2015 at 6:42 PM
i’m getting more and more pumped for donald trump every day. i hope your country does the right thing and gets this man in the white house. this is going to set off a domino effect that will hopefully reach australia and the rest of the west in due time.
james n.s.w
August 16, 2015 at 8:07 PM
“this is going to set off a domino effect that will hopefully reach australia and the rest of the west in due time.”
Aren’t we the last to the party? Don’t you guys turn away people at the border? In the US we have no border anymore. I just saw something by the census saying that we have 40 million foreign-born in the US and they are under-counting by 20 million illegals. So that’s 60 million, about 20% of the population here, and it just gets worse every year.
T
August 16, 2015 at 10:50 PM
I think both NZ and Australia are pretty tight on immigration. Australia actually turns away boats coming to their shores.
Mike Street Station
August 17, 2015 at 11:39 AM
Looks reasonable. If Walker and Cruz want to win the nomination they’ll have to move their immigration position to match Trump’s – and I still prefer Walker and Cruz candidacies remain viable because I’m not quite confident a Trump nomination will fly in the general.
On a different topic. with Jeff Sessions having written Trump’s immigration platform Trump should have Mike Lee write his campaign a college reform plan.
The Undiscovered Jew
August 16, 2015 at 8:20 PM
Trump didn’t call out Cruz in his plan like he did Rubio, because Cruz has said nice things about Trump, but Cruz has called for a 5x increase in H1-Bs.
Dave Pinsen
August 16, 2015 at 9:08 PM
oh crap, really? so much for “the thinking man’s Trump.”
Mrs Stitch
August 17, 2015 at 10:52 AM
Good call on consulting Sessions. I remember John Derbyshire calling for Sessions to run for president back before they charged for Radio Derb so maybe this is just as good.
Jokah Macpherson
August 16, 2015 at 9:14 PM
I agree, Jokah Macpherson: if Trump did indeed get Senator Sessions to write his postion on immigration, he has shown that he can identify competent people and delegate to them. That’s real leadership.
Jonathan Silber
August 17, 2015 at 12:41 PM
The one thing missing from Trump’s platform is a hard numeric limit on greencards. Although the implications of his policy would lead to sharp greencard reductions, a specific number would help nail down the parameters of the debate with specifics. 100,000 or less would be satisfactory.
The Undiscovered Jew
August 17, 2015 at 10:49 PM
I consider Cruz to be the only remotely acceptable non-Trump candidate besides Walker. Whether I’d vote for Cruz in the primary would depend on his moving further right on immigration as Walker has already been doing.
So far my top choices are Walker and Trump. At this moment I’m leaning towards Walker only because I’m not sold on whether Trump would beat Hillary (who remains the likely Dem) in the general election.
The Undiscovered Jew
August 16, 2015 at 9:41 PM
…
Too late for the others now.
They’re all just followers now.
No one will believe what they say now either.
They will all be beholden to the US Chamber of Horrors, the Kochs, Adelstein, etc.
So they will do nothing if elected.
All managers. Not a leader among them, except Trump.
Andy Warhol was on Johnny Carson back in the ’60’s and Carson asked him:
“Can’t anyone paint a soup can?”
Warhol replied: “Not anymore.”
That’s Trump today.
Can’t Walker and Cruz win by opposing immigration?
Not anymore.
They had their chance to lead and now it’s gone.
Good riddance.
…
Nedd Ludd
August 17, 2015 at 10:24 AM
They’re all just followers now.
For me, Cruz is a very distant third choice.
But Walker deserves respect. He led the fight to destroy public unions when much of the establishment GOP would have been happy to see him fold. When he adopts a position he’s likely to follow through.
However, you are correct that time is running out for even Walker to catch Trump on immigration. If he doesn’t move soon and aggressively he’ll be left hoping to be Trump’s VP nominee.
The Undiscovered Jew
August 17, 2015 at 10:53 PM
I’m sold.
Viscount Douchenozzlé
August 16, 2015 at 8:44 PM
If he sticks to his guns, he just won the election.
Though the media is about to go ballistic on him like we’ve never seen before.
peterike
August 16, 2015 at 9:01 PM
One curious thing about the man is his unnatural composure.
He never really seems sweaty or flustered.
With all the twittering, flying around giving speeches, arguing with talk show anchors, working with his campaign crew, and probably handling his business stuff on the side, the man always looks cool, calm, and collected, fully rested and with nice french cuffs.
Something about that says to me he might be some kind of sociopath with low empathy; they tend to have lower resting heart rates and feel no guilt or anxiety, which is why he is so good at deflecting people attacking him. But I can’t be certain.
Regardless, he is against immigration, so he’s got my vote.
jjbees
August 16, 2015 at 9:37 PM
He’s been in the spotlight in the media capital of the country for 30+ years, was the star of his own TV show on NBC for 10 years. His composure comes from his enormous media experience.
Dave Pinsen
August 17, 2015 at 1:08 AM
“With all the twittering”
99+% of those are from staff. Probably some 25-year-old. They might have a team for brainstorming ideas and second pair of eyes for faux paus prevention.
anon
August 17, 2015 at 4:26 AM
Yeah, so everything jjbees said was BS, right? Trump has a life of leisure, and everything was handed to him. Got it.
Copperhead Joe
August 17, 2015 at 1:32 PM
A wall is likely to be expensive and ineffective. Better to make it illegal to hire illegals, to rent or sell them housing, to provide them bank accounts etc. Remove the attraction and you won’t need stringent border security.
James B. Shearer
August 16, 2015 at 10:03 PM
>A wall is likely to be expensive
Much, much, cheaper than not building a wall.
>and ineffective.
Nearly all of history disagrees with you.
>Better to make it illegal to hire illegals
It already is. Doesn’t make much of a difference, does it?
T
August 16, 2015 at 11:00 PM
A wall makes sense if people are coming over the wall to attack you. If they’re just coming over to work and integrate themselves into lawful society it makes way more sense to penalize employers and landlords. It’s a total waste to build a wall. Although there’s plenty of waste in our defense budget already.
Lloyd Llewellyn
August 17, 2015 at 12:01 AM
“It already is. Doesn’t make much of a difference, does it?”
Actually it isn’t. You are required to ask prospective employees for documentation they can legally work. There are several forms of acceptable documentation (some of which are easily forged). If a prospective employee produces such documentation you are required to accept it unless it is obviously fraudulent (for example a picture ID with someone else’s picture). This makes the law pretty useless (which of course was the intent). A serious attempt to restrict illegal immigration would make the law much stricter.
James B. Shearer
August 17, 2015 at 2:30 AM
Wall in Israel is very effective, it will be even more effective in the US when done right.
Yakov
August 16, 2015 at 11:15 PM
When people talk about the israeli “Wall”, they usually mean the fence between Israel and the territorries, which is incomplete and pretty porous.
But there is another fence, or the border between Israel and Egypt. It was built in response of unchecked immigration from Afrika, and was pretty succesfull in stopping immigrants.
Yoav
August 17, 2015 at 6:48 AM
@Yoav
That’s the wall I’m talking about, see the link.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 9:44 AM
What’s with all the “or’s”? We can have a wall AND employer sanctions.
Lot
August 17, 2015 at 3:02 AM
Which is Trumps plan. Wall plus e-Verify.
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 7:44 AM
Well, why not do do all of the above?
A wall is a fine stimulus to the economy too. Infrastructure we can believe in.
Glengarry
August 17, 2015 at 3:51 AM
There are plenty of areas where a wall actually does make sense near towns and cities. That’s where most people are crossing. That’s why I’d like to see the feds shut down these little border towns and create a buffer zone. If they killed the towns on this side of the border it would kill a lot of the towns on the other side. There would be a lot fewer places to cross.
Regardless, there’s not much point in putting a wall where there are no roads and 80 miles of desert. That would be better served with drones and sensors. It’s pretty easy to spot makeshift roads and footpaths from the air. Vehicles and groups crossing on foot show up like a neon sign on thermal imaging. But I won’t bitch if he talks about a wall. Talking about a wall makes a symbolic point voters understand.
destructure
August 17, 2015 at 9:31 AM
This is amazing, I feel physically pumped up. We might still have a country if he can accomplish most of this.
With this as his platform the majority of Republicans will vote for him in the primary and the majority of Americans will vote for him in the general. It should result in a landslide victory but there is the possiblity some combination of electoral fraud, murder, bribery, and/or blackmail will prevent him from becoming president.
T
August 16, 2015 at 10:38 PM
Hey you guys remember herman cain? He was leading too at one time. As much as I like trump im not getting my hopes up bcs I guarantee he said a bad word in college or did something that the media will fry him on. I would hate to see everyone here get all pumped up and.then disappointed. My prediction is that trump doesnt make it to november and hillary wins with 46% of the vote.
Mr. Welder
August 16, 2015 at 10:48 PM
“I like trump im not getting my hopes up bcs I guarantee he said a bad word in college or did something that the media will fry him on.”
Normally I would agree with that, but the usual rules don’t seem to apply or Trump would already be out. Of course, we’re still months away from the very first primary vote so a lot could happen.
Mike Street Station
August 17, 2015 at 11:45 AM
Bernie Sanders has also been openly opposed to open borders. Too bad his own party would run him to the ground if he were as vocal as Trump.
Augustus
August 16, 2015 at 11:05 PM
The Black Lives Matter people keep showing up at Sanders’ events, but are absent from Hilary’s speeches. Sanders believes in traditional middle-class America, so he must be stopped.
dsgntd_plyr
August 17, 2015 at 10:51 AM
I’m ecstatic! I’ll kill for Trump! Also stop the green card lottery. This guy may actually save America. Wow! The Founding Fathers must be rejoicing now in the heavenly realm!
Yakov
August 16, 2015 at 11:20 PM
He may be the best on the issue but he’s not that great. It doesn’t talk about what Trump wants to do with non (immigration) criminal illegal aliens living here and Trump has said in other forums that he wants to give them citizenship. So there’s probably other pro illegal immigrant policies that he’s not disclosing here. He does not give details about who should be allowed to immigrate so there is lots of room for betrayal there.
A great policy would incorporate identity as well as economic productivity into visa requirements, deport any current illegal immigrants that don’t meet those requirements, and pay citizens who don’t meet those requirements to renounce their citizenship.
And his plan is justified by talking about how good it will be for blacks, women, and hispanics which shows that he’s not interested in the kinds of reforms our political culture really needs.
Lloyd Llewellyn
August 16, 2015 at 11:22 PM
And the wall stuff is stupid red meat posturing that he probably doesn’t even believe in.
Lloyd Llewellyn
August 16, 2015 at 11:25 PM
You keep saying, but why? Why won’t a 10 foot wall keep illegals out?
Yakov
August 16, 2015 at 11:36 PM
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/11/does-a-border-fence-work-check-out-the-dramatic-change-after-israel-put-one-up/
Yakov
August 16, 2015 at 11:42 PM
I remember several years ago watching one of those prison shows. They claimed that the walls of the prison, with its reinforced concrete and razor wire, cost about $1,000 per linear foot to build. I estimated that a wall designed to prison standards built across the entire US-mexico border would cost between 10-20 billion dollars.
That’s a bargain.
map
August 17, 2015 at 12:20 PM
That’s a screwy estimate because they put the prison where it would be cheap to build while a border wall would have all sorts of extra costs due to things like its remoteness and the terrain being built over.
Lloyd Llewellyn
August 17, 2015 at 7:16 PM
Building a wall sounds like something that’s well within the capabilities of United States construction companies. It may cost 20 billion dollars (2,000 miles at $10 million per mile), but that’s certain affordable and a lot less expensive than the problems created by illegal immigrants making it a real bargain.
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 7:31 PM
If fences don’t work, take down the fence in front of the White House.
Nedd Ludd
August 17, 2015 at 8:24 PM
Let’s see if Walker or Cruz (or Sanders??) can triangulate a proposal based on what you write.
Glengarry
August 17, 2015 at 3:54 AM
Walker already has. I think if nothing else, Trump has succeeded in pushing the bounds of acceptable talk on immigration. That’s astounding.
Mike Street Station
August 17, 2015 at 11:47 AM
He lays out his points calmly and clearly. And he’s very comfortable defending his perspective. The establishment may hate him, but I’m very much looking forward to them having to answer him.
Jeb – ‘Illegal immigration is an act of love!’
Do your thing Trump. If you have to destroy the Republican party while doing it, fine with me.
ModernReader
August 17, 2015 at 12:16 AM
Oh ending birthright citizenship, great. While we are dismantling founding principles like jus soli, let’s nix the first amendment too. Then America will have nothing to be proud of at all and be reduced to a stupid low-class affectation of Europe. I said that democrats were pieces of shit: don’t forget it.
That ship sailed! It sailed from England, then Africa, the Eastern Europe. There’s enough money here to do anything with the people. But why share it when you can just punish the least relevant, I guess…
Close the borders, fine. But whoever comes legally should be rewarded, along with his future family.
swank
August 17, 2015 at 1:03 AM
“Oh ending birthright citizenship, great. While we are dismantling founding principles like jus soli, let’s nix the first amendment too.”
Your non sequitur has been duly noted. Now let the adults continue the conversation please.
peterike
August 17, 2015 at 1:13 PM
Your non sequitur has been duly noted.
Well, you either know nothing about jus soli or what a non-sequitur is. One thing I know for sure is that you and most of the goonies here aren’t “adults” in the way you think.
swank
August 17, 2015 at 2:57 PM
No European country has had pure jus soli or extended it in the way the U.S. has. And generally European countries also think 180 degrees wrt to “free speech.” That’s no accident.
The experiment and promise is that anyone can become an American. Rather than conceptualize nationality by fixed ancestry, the United States has a non-essentialist concept of nationhood
And while jus soli originated in English common law, it gained muscle through American jurisprudence.
The “tough” issue is whether the children of illegals should be considered ‘Americans.’ Yes, I get it. If one closes the borders, then whatever illegal immigrants make it and have children who are de jure citizens will not have much of an impact. America’s strong jus soli is not necessary for justice but it is part of what’s necessary for the “American” identity and ethos (what parts of it are worth keeping).
I’m sympathetic to people who want to abandon ship and think it’s doomed to fail; but, ultimately, they should just go back to Europe. Any country that allows you to piss on its flag is a country worth fighting for IMHO.
swank
August 17, 2015 at 3:56 PM
***A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation.***
I wish Lawrence Auster was still around to read this. Finally, a candidate who really understands this issue and is prepared to put it front and centre of their campaign.
Julian
August 17, 2015 at 1:18 AM
Another point that Trump could make is that allowing immigrants to come here destroys incentives for their countries of origin to change.
clay carlin
August 17, 2015 at 1:47 AM
Anyone who doesn’t believe walls on borders works knows nothing about history. The Great Wall of China, Hadrian’s Wall, and many others have shown time and again to keep barbarians out of countries. A Great Wall on the Mexican Border could be a tourist attraction similar to the Great Wall of China if done right. We have millions of criminals in prison and millions of invaders in America. Arresting the invaders and getting prisoners from prisons to do it, would be incredibly cheap.
The alternative could be more expensive. Civil War would kill millions and many of the oligarchs and their family might be hanged or burned.
Joshua Sinistar
August 17, 2015 at 1:57 AM
Wow!
Glengarry
August 17, 2015 at 3:57 AM
Lion, do you think he would be able to get rid of birthright citizenship without a constitutional amendment?
Francis
August 17, 2015 at 6:37 AM
It’s not an issue courts have ever ruled on. The purpose of the 14th Amendment was to give equal citizenship to freed slaves, NOT to illegal immigrants.
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 8:23 AM
While that’s true, I think we all know that if a case came before SCOTUS contesting birthright citizenship, they would rule in favor of it.
Hermes
August 17, 2015 at 11:29 AM
Oh please.
The 14th amendment plainly read extends the English common law principle of jus soli to all other racial or ethnic groups. Jus soli was understood as always applicable to whites; Lynch v. Clarke states plainly that jus soli is the settled “law of the land.”
swank
August 17, 2015 at 1:06 PM
Based on the sparse court decisions on it, the amendment didn’t envision illegals. American Indians didn’t acquire citizenship under the 14th amendment, but as Hermes notes, currently the SCOTUS can do pretty much anything, so I’m sure if a challenge went that far, the court would rule in favor of the entire rest of the world becoming citizens on our dime.
Mike Street Station
August 17, 2015 at 12:00 PM
The original purpose of the 14th Amendment was to ensure rights for freed slaves, but yes, liberal Supreme Court justices have used it as an excuse to do whatever they feel like.
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 12:03 PM
To quote Chateau Heartiste:
“Trump just delivered a roundhouse kick to the groins of GOP cuckservatives, which would hurt them if they had any balls to begin with.”
guest
August 17, 2015 at 8:37 AM
For any of you who listen to Michael Medved, what do you want to bet that the first hour of his show today is given over to hand wringing and Medved soiling his panties over how horrible Trump’s plan is and it will destroy any chance of Republicans ever getting even a single Hispanic vote ever again?
Sgt. Joe Friday
August 17, 2015 at 9:39 AM
Immigration is very simple – only the people that The Founding Fathers would have approved of should be accepted. Everyone else can come on work visas and return to their countries of origin. Russia, Israel, Arab Gulf states all do it, why can the US do the same? Mexicans are good construction and agricultural workers, let them come to work and return back to Mexico.
I think the most important thing is weather a person identifies with America and not weather he is legal or not. I worked here illegally and so what? I beleive in American Revolution and Constitution and I would fight for that America, I think it gives me the right to do what I want here. Now, a Ben Ladin’s nephew, even if he is legal, shouldn’t be here because he is the enemy of US. And this goes for millions that come here without any identification with what America stands for. Trump needs to spell this out.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 9:42 AM
“Mexicans are good construction and agricultural workers”
No, they are CHEAP construction and agricultural workers.
peterike
August 17, 2015 at 1:14 PM
No they are cheap and good, I work with them. Two Mexicans install 100-120 sheet rock boards a day at my job cites. This is very good. Incidentally, I’ve met a powerful black guy who installs sheet rock alone, he is so strong! Gets paid $250 a day. Good for him. Obviously it’s all cash.
.
Caveat, you have to watch them or the play around.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 2:59 PM
Funny, just today was working on my bosses new house and mates, these Mexican midgets are great workers. They are very strong for their tiny size and have high indurance. Worked well, all I can say. They definitely deserve more money for their work, but they should go back to Mexico eventually.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 6:59 PM
I think the most important thing is weather a person identifies with America and not weather he is legal or not.
Exactly right and unique to America.
swank
August 17, 2015 at 5:22 PM
@swank
Most of immigrants, both legal or illegal, coming today to America don’t. They want to benefit from what’s here but don’t share or care about American values. This immigration has to stop.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 7:49 PM
I disagree that most of them don’t. But regardless, “if we are to make our people love their country, us I desire they should, we must make their country lovely,” applies to them too. If the only good thing about America is a buck, well…
swank
August 18, 2015 at 1:03 AM
Many of you will be quite surprised, to find out that quite a number of illegals have expired visas as a result. A lot of them are highly educated and some of them, are high earners, working off the books. They are 100000X more worthy than our black demographic.
Of course, most people in this country are clueless as to what really goes on this country. Plenty of business people in NYC, most of them who are White, love their Latin American workers. Blacks could never perform effectively on menial tasks, given their cocky and arrogant behavior, and most certainly, Whites are too entitled to work for piecemeal wages. Robotics would perhaps solve the labor issue, which is not happening anytime soon.
JS
August 17, 2015 at 10:13 AM
Go Donald!
Lowe
August 17, 2015 at 10:47 AM
In addition to trolling Rubio, Reid, and Bush in his paper, Trump trolls liberals by pointing out how mass migration lowers the wages of women and minorities. This guy!
dsgntd_plyr
August 17, 2015 at 10:56 AM
Trump has shown zero capacity to adhere to consistent policy. I predict he will openly contradict this manifesto within a week.
Freddie
August 17, 2015 at 11:03 AM
Yes, that sounds about right. The average Meriprolestani, loves a novel guy who just blow off a lot of steam, for a few cheap laughs and cheers. It’s pre-White house, Obama 2.0, all over again!
JS
August 17, 2015 at 12:15 PM
You’re probably right.
Viscount Douchenozzlé
August 17, 2015 at 1:32 PM
Trump in the Washington Post:
“You know, when you put out policy, like a 14-point plan? A lot of times in the first hour of negotiation, that 14-point plan goes astray, but you may end up with a better deal. That’s the way it works. That’s the way really life works. When I do a deal, I don’t say, ‘Oh, here’s 14 points.’ I got out and do it. I don’t sit down and talk about 14 points.”
Petey
August 18, 2015 at 3:22 AM
With the Trump threat looming, Obama will open a Katrina-size flood of Sub-Saharan African and Amerindian Latino immigrants into America between now and Friday, January 20, 2017. The flood will help elect Trump, but create a fearsome, costly, divisive mess for the Trump administration to grapple with.
Mark Caplan
August 17, 2015 at 11:14 AM
It takes no time to throw up a barbed wire fence. Next put some electricity through it and volunteer redneck patrols. Than start building a proper wall. Illegals caught trying to sneak in should be building it for free as a punishment.
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 12:45 PM
A wall alone won’t work. You need guard towers every 400 yards manned 24×7 and roving patrols of guards who turn back any attempted crossing. If need be, you incarcerate people who do get over and after a year of confinement, then send them back across.
CamelCaseRob
August 17, 2015 at 11:23 AM
Some of the 80,000 H&R Block employees put out of work by Trump’s tax code simplification can work on the wall 🙂
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 11:26 AM
It would take many years to build a massive wall along the border, which spans a few states, and that includes your beloved Arizona!
JS
August 17, 2015 at 11:36 AM
The sooner we start working on it, the sooner it will get finished. It’s not really any more difficult than building an aircraft carrier. Also, I assume we will prioritize the first sections of the wall to be built where there are the most illegal border crossings, so after just one year the wall will already be reducing the amount of illegal entries.
Lion of the Blogosphere
August 17, 2015 at 11:40 AM
If there is a will, there is a way!
Our borders aren’t like that of Israel’s. It’s much longer, spanning a few states. By placing barriers on the areas that attract the most illegals, means a diversion, where they will find other holes to crawl through.
JS
August 17, 2015 at 7:00 PM
“You need guard towers every 400 yards manned 24×7 and roving patrols of guards who turn back any attempted crossing.”
You can patrol it with drones using heat seeking radar. They can “see” people walking across from high in the atmosphere and alert land-based patrols. You could also have shoot-to-kill orders. Now, now, the usual suspects will weep and wail over that. But the thing about shoot-to-kill is that maybe you shoot three or four people. After that, word gets around and 98% of the invaders just stop trying. You’re left with drug mules after that.
peterike
August 17, 2015 at 1:18 PM
Donald is the hero America needs.
Robert Rhodes (@campofthesaints)
August 17, 2015 at 11:49 AM
But is he the hero america deserves?
Mr. Welder
August 17, 2015 at 3:15 PM
Trump obviously didn’t write this immigration policy paper, so it’s very questionable how loyal he will be to it. He is not a policy guy, nor has he ever pitched himself as one. This was a revealing quote from Business Insider:
“Asked on Saturday about when he would release his immigration policy proposal, Trump pointed out that the press was far more interested in it than voters.
‘I know the press wants it,’ Trump said, according to The Washington Post. ‘I don’t think the people care. I think they trust me. I think they know I’m going to make good deals for them.'”
Trump wants to be president because he wants to be president. He is not a politician which is good in some ways, but bad in others. He has a well-documented history of trying to ride various waves and trends and fashions of American politics and shedding them when they don’t seem to work. He honestly doesn’t seem to care much about policy very much one way or another, and I think it is deeply, deeply, deeply naive for people to think he’ll be some white knight who will rush in and solve all the problems when there is so much evidence suggesting this is a man who will do and say anything to get elected.
He’s way more of a Huey Long populist type than a Ron Paul unwavering ideologue type.
Petey
August 17, 2015 at 12:49 PM
That’s what America needs. We need a Huey Long.
Anyway Trump didn’t have to bring up issues like the H1B. Most Republicans say they’re anti-illegal immigration, but seldomly do they address guest worker programs. For Trump to go this far shows he’s serious and committed to reforming the system. It’s not just talk.
Most voters don’t even know what H1b is. Trump could’ve avoided mentioning it completely. He mentioned it not for votes, but because he seems to have a genuine desire to clamp down on the abuse.
The fact that he took advice from Jeff Sessions tells you what you need to know.
HomeDepot
August 17, 2015 at 3:11 PM
Harvesting votes is easy when all you have to do is cut the destructive (if to some lucrative) programs. Another lesson lost on noble cuckservatives, willing to die for whatever principles have funding.
I can do the same for quite a few European nations too. How to save your nation’s economy with this One Weird Trick* (* Bonus: your nation’s future saved too).
Glengarry
August 18, 2015 at 8:27 AM
Other political candidates have not come forward with proposals like Trumps’s because the big money contributors are opposed to a real crack down on illegal immigration or a reduction in legal immigration. Big business and agriculture want cheap labor, so they are in favor of more immigration to keep wages low.
Trump can propose this because he can self-fund his campaign at this point (I’m sure he is getting small donations, but he can self-fund the big dollar donations).
If he wins the nomination, would the usual GOP big dollar people support his campaign anyway? It is expected the candidates will need around 1 billion or approaching that for the presidential run. I don’t think Trump can self fund that, but I expect most of the usual donors would support Trump if he were to win the nomination, but maybe not to the extent they would other candidates.
Remember, Trump is not really a Republican. Trump is not in favor of phasing out Medicare or Social Security. Trump is not in favor of replacing the progressive income tax with a flat tax and/or a value added tax.
mikeca
August 17, 2015 at 4:04 PM
Well, “The Five” was certainly entertaining this afternoon.
Dana Perino (Bush 43’s last press secretary) was joined by Geraldo Rivera in sobbing and shrieking about how “inhumane” Trump’s immigration plan is, complete with straw man arguments about “your papers please,” and “crops rotting in the field.” Rivera claimed that building a fence would cost a trillion dollars (he did back off that figure pretty quickly, though) and would be pointless besides because immigrants with shovels and ladders costing hundreds of dollars would go over or under it, so why bother building it? Rivera really went for the brass ring when he accused Trump of “blowing his nose” into the Constitution with regard to birthright citizenship, and the usual discussion of the difficulties of deporting 11, or 12, or 13 million people. (BTW, you don’t have to deport that many people. During Operation Wetback, Ike started deportations, and after that most of the rest left on their own, no doubt taking their American citizen children with them.)
It’s almost like the commentators at Fox were given talking points by Roger Ailes to work into the panel discussion…
Sgt. Joe Friday
August 17, 2015 at 6:43 PM
When looking at wall designs, let’s not neglect Hadrian’s Wall.
jef
August 17, 2015 at 7:04 PM
Perhaps a great wall, with a long passageway, watch towers, and turret placements to shoot those trying to trespass.
JS
August 17, 2015 at 8:07 PM
Of course, the scope of this project, means one thing. It’s completion is indeterminable. Who knows what will be in store for Meriprolestan in 2020, let alone 2025?
JS
August 17, 2015 at 8:12 PM
Even the Kenyans are building a wall to keep out Somalis. Predictably the Somalis are against the idea.
““This is where immigrants have been arrested trying to cross into the country or having already entered through the border in Lamu. This is a good idea and we support it because we believe it will go a long way to secure this region and indeed, the country as a whole,” said Timamy.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/02/kenya-wall-israel-separation-barrier
Some other separation barriers around the world.
“The number of border walls continues to grow. Iran is erecting a 700-kilometer (435 mile) wall along its border with Pakistan. India has constructed fences along its border with Pakistan, and plans a fence along the nearly 5,000-kilometer border with Bangladesh, as well as a 767-kilometer (476-mile) fence along Jammu and Kashmir. Outside the Middle East, Malaysia and Thailand have been building a wall along their shared border to deter illegal workers, smugglers, and terrorists. In South America, Brazil is building a 3-meter (10-foot) high wall along its Paraguayan border, near the city of Foz de Iguaçu, to deter smugglers from entering the country illegally.”
http://connection.ebscohost.com/world/border-walls/border-walls-and-border-security-around-world
Julian
August 17, 2015 at 8:15 PM
Yakov
August 17, 2015 at 9:03 PM
Slightly O/T – It seems like porno is coming back to Times Sq, and this time, real women with naked, painted, chests:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/tourists-annoyed-painted-naked-ladies-times-square-article-1.2327227
Thanks to immigration, you get a variety of ladies, including those unsavory, hispanic, mamacitas. Just say no to those bongo, black women.
I guess Donald Trump would put them to work at his Taj Majal strip club, when asked, how to clean up NYC again!
JS
August 17, 2015 at 10:34 PM
While Hillary!! would have you fired and jailed for suggesting they are anything but awesome and need any clean up whatsoever. Every day on every street shall be a Pride Parade! Enjoy your Prolemerica.
Glengarry
August 18, 2015 at 8:35 AM
Washington Post going all out to trash Trump’s plan. Commentators appear to disagree though.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trumps-immigration-plan-would-wreck-havoc-on-us-society/2015/08/17/19703368-451d-11e5-8ab4-c73967a143d3_story.html
Julian
August 18, 2015 at 12:30 AM