(ThyBlackMan.com) President Trump has been playing a high-stakes game of poker with Democrats over the issue of illegal immigration.
After going several rounds with Democrats that included various concessions, he went “all-in” by announcing that there would be raids to pick up the lawbreakers. These are to round up people who have had their cases adjudicated and received a final order of removal. They have been instructed to contact their local ICE office and report with their families for deportation.
Far from being inhuman, these gate-crashers have been given time to get the things together they accumulated here while on what amounts to an unauthorized extended vacation. They get free transportation home in air-conditioned comfort with meals and drinks served along the way, courtesy of U.S. taxpayers – a far cry from how they arrived! Instead of complying with the order, they simply dared authorities to come and get them.
Trump, in a magnanimous gesture to allow Democrats one last chance to pass meaningful legislation to stop the flow of illegal entries at our southern border, delayed the deportations an additional two weeks. In the process he forced Democrats to show their cards, and, one-by-one, that is exactly what happened.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s top cards were “the (order was the) very definition of callousness” and “instead of pursuing criminals, he (Trump) threatens to tear families apart.”
Nancy Pelosi played a number of cards: “appalling,” “outside the circle of civilized human behavior” and “splitting up families.” She also charged Trump with “injustices that are happening at the border.” Pelosi incorrectly stated that “a violation of status is not a reason for deportation.” Oh, really! When did she pass that law?
Let’s recap: The Democratic leaders of Congress have, in effect, refused to give us any money for more detention facilities. Furthermore, they refuse to amend the law that says you can’t hold lawbreakers with minors more than 20 days. Therefore, we are forced to release thousands of people a day – even those without minors – on their on recognizance. When they fail to report to court or their claims are adjudicated and found to be fraudulent, thanks to Trump, we now know Pelosi and Schumer still do not want them deported and sent home.
At a event in New York on Monday, Pelosi questioned the value of any interior enforcement at all by saying, “What’s the point?” The point, Madam Speaker, is to enforce the law!
Both Schumer and Pelosi essentially used the same aces in this game: “tearing families apart” and “splitting up families!” Oh the injustice of it all!
Trump’s trump card: You take your family with you. Even those who were fortunate enough to have a kid while illegally living in our country have every right to do just that. Birthright citizenship was never intended to benefit illegal aliens. Congress should pass a law to make that clear, but don’t hold your breath. Nevertheless, illegal aliens with children born here can take those children home and, when they are of age, those children can then decide if they want to return to the U.S.
So what about our illustrious Democrats running for president? Where do they stand? Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders’ cards call for abolishing ICE altogether.
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s cards were: the “city is standing by immigrants in anticipation of the raids,” and “ICE, in its current form, cannot continue to exist.”
Kamela Harris’ cards were “reprehensible” and “an affront to our values.” Her ace was that the raids are “an attempt to remake the demographics of our country.” Seriously? I’m not making this up!
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg played the “inhumane” and “illegal,” cards, and his ace blamed the president for the “deaths of migrant children in U.S. custody.”
And now we come to the front-runner, Joe Biden, who avoided this issue as he does all the others by refusing to get in the game. Instead he penned a fuzzy op-ed in the Miami Herald on Monday calling for “immigration reform grounded in respect.” Biden would solve the crisis “by investing in border technology” and “improving screening procedures at our legal ports of entry.” (If only we could get all those gate-crashers to come through ports of entry!)
Sen. Tom Cotton correctly summed up the stakes in the president’s poker game by asking a simple question, “If you can’t deport an illegal alien who has a valid and final order for removal that’s adjudicated by an immigration judge, who can you deport?”
Democrats, in unison: “No one! We need their votes in order to regain and stay in power.”
Written by Jane Chastain
Official website; https://twitter.com/janechastain
