Trump and Immigration: A Raging Status Quo
On Border Criminologies, David Hernandez analyzes Donald Trump’s immigration positions. He concludes:
“Donald Trump’s immigration reform is a raging version of the status quo. His vacillations between toughness and softness—designed to reap the political payoff of the moment—are not unique. They are, however, central to his business model and deal-making strategy in which he places himself and his corporate interests before the public good. Trump is not unlike other politicians, including President Obama, who’ve walked the political tightrope of immigration. It was Obama—once called the “deporter-in-chief”—who ramped up the most devastating deportation machine in U.S history, while at the same time executing deferred action on deportation for undocumented youth who migrated as children and attempting to do so for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens.
At this stage it seems clear that softening on immigration will be limited to Trump’s sporadic pandering. Instead, the centripetal force of his racist populism and his inability to retract or apologize will always lead him into murkier, more racist, and unconstitutional waters. As November 8 lurches into view, those of us hoping for a new page to be turned on US immigration policies, have many reasons to be worried.”
KJ