TRUMP CALLS FOR MASS DEPORTATION OF ALL UNDOUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN U.S.

Prominent Latinos drop support of Trump after speech;

Illegal immigration at lowest level since 1972;

Fact checkers find many false statements in Trump’s speech.

By Miriam Raftery; Photo by Gage Skidmore

September 1,2016 (San Diego) – Just hours after returning from meeting Mexico’s president, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump delivered a fiery speech in Arizona in which he stereotyped Mexicans as rapists and murderers, called for a revival of an “Operation Wetback” deportation program similar to a widely criticized program under the Eisenhower administration, but  tougher.  

He announced plans to cancel President Obama’s actions to protect people brought here as children and parents of U.S. citizens.  He made clear that his goal is to ultimately deport every undocumented immigration in the U.S.  “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation,”Trump stated. “Our message to the world will be this: You cannot obtain legal status,or become a citizen of the United States, by illegally entering our country. Can’t do it.”

As for undocumented immigrants already living in the U.S., his words are striking fear. “They have to go back."

Even some supporters of tougher immigration stances have called Trump’s  call to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. cost-prohibitive and unrealistic.  Trump has yet to offer any explanation for how he would fund such a massive operation.

He also called for tripling the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, holding worksite raids and starting a special deportation task force; the latter would focus first on criminals.

Trump called for these massive expenditures while ignoring the fact that illegal immigration is actually at the lowest point since 1972—back when Richard  Nixon was president, nearly a half century ago, theWashington Post reports.

In addition, he renewed his call to build a bigger “impenetrable” border wall.  Trump again said in his Arizona that Mexico would pay for the wall, but Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto promptly tweeted that he told Trump earlier that day that Mexico will not pay for the wall.

A senior Trump policy advisor later reportedly said  Trump is considering using cash seized from drug cartels to fund construction of the border wall if elected. But there’s a big problem with that idea.  Seized drug assets are currently used in part to fund federal criminal investigations and in part to fund local enforcement agencies.

 So  Trump’s wall, if funded with drug seizure money, would actually be taking money away from  local and federal law enforcement agencies.

Worth noting:  it is unclear  whether Trump’s “impenetrable wall” would  or would not replace the border fence in East County with a solid barrier, or whether any consideration of openings for wildlife such as bighorn sheep to cross the border for access to water or food would be eliminated.

Trump fanned the flames of bigotry and the ugliest sort of stereotyping, claiming “countless American who have died in recent years would be alive today if not for the open border policies of this Administration.” He then invited relatives of people killed by immigrants to speak.

His remarks ignore the fact that studies have consistently found Latino immigrants in border towns and New York city to be more law abiding, with lower crime rates, than white or black Americans.

 He also misrepresented  Obama policies; in fact border crossings have fallen sharply and spending on border security has gone up during Obama’s tenure; deportations are currently at an all –time high, with Obama primarily targeting criminals.

Trump cited figures from a biased source, the anti-immigrant group FAIR, claiming illegal immigrants cost America $113 billion dollars a year. That’s false.  The figure includes the cost of educating and providing medical care to U.S. citizens whose parents were immigrants.

He further claimed, “These illegal workers draw much more out of the system than they will ever pay in.” That ignores the fact that immigrants in the U.S. pay almost $12 billion in state and local taxes.  Plus up to 75% of undocumented immigrants pay into Social Security, even though they can’t collect it unless they become citizens.  Legalizing those in the shadows would actually increase tax revenues for the U.S. 

Trump also misrepresented positions of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, falsely stating that she has said she would give Social Security to undocumented immigrants.

Trump’s inflammatory speech drew praise from some conservatives and from David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, a racial hate group

However his speech alienated some former supporters in the Latino community. 

Jacob Monty resigned from Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council after the Arizona speech.  “What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate.” He criticized Trump for not showing compassion for undocumented immigrants who are not criminals.

Another member, Texas Pastor Ramiro Pena said ofTrump’s National Hispanic Advisory Coucil,”I do not have the time or energy for a scam.” 

Trump’s trip to Mexico this week was made against the advice of U.S. diplomats and security advisors  as well as the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. Press was excluded from the private meeting that Trump had characterized as positive. 

But Mexico’s president toldTelevisa that some of Trump’s positions “are a threat to Mexico”, adding that the Mexican people are ”very insulted.”