Explaining Trump

President Grover Cleveland

“. . . He got on in politics, not by knuckling to politicians, but by scorning and defying them, and when he found himself opposed in what he conceived to be sound and honest courses, not only by politicians but by sovereign people, he treated them to a massive dose of the same medicine.”

H.L. Mencken on President Grover Cleveland,  Good Man In A Bad Trade, 1933  

It is not too far off the mark to state that President Donald Trump has stirred more controversy in the first six days of his presidency than his predecessor had in his first six years. I’m just not sure if like the quote above, he is avidly following “sound and honest courses” or practicing a form of massive manipulation/mental jujitsu that allowed him to trounce 12 rivals in the Republican primary and the Clinton political machine in the general election.

I did corporate sales for many years and time and again found myself transferred to a region or practice where the sales numbers where down and in much need of improvement. Tactics aside, my overall strategy was what I came to refer to as “all out massive action.”   Perhaps Trump is practicing his own form of all out massive action. And it is quite possible it’s working! He has stuffed the media and both sides of the political aisle with so many executive orders, outrageous tweets, and inflammatory remarks, it has been difficult to focus on what to oppose first.

In the case of immigration, during the campaign he promised to build a wall and deport almost a million criminal aliens who have been ordered removed but have not left the country. With Wednesday’s executive orders (EO), he appears to be keeping those promises.   And there appear to be more executive orders dealing with immigration in the offing.

Following the signing of the EO entitled Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements, President Trump stated in a speech delivered to Department of Homeland Security personnel “. . . we will begin immediate construction of a border wall . . . and going to get out the bad ones and get them out fast.”   Additionally, the EO ends the practice of “Catch and Release” where aliens are released in the United States shortly after their apprehension. Rather, aliens will be returned to the country from which they came.

Other provisions in the EO include the hiring of five thousand additional border patrol agents and the revival of the 287 G program that was suspended by President Obama in 2012. The 287 G Program references Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that was enacted in 1952.   That section of the INA authorizes state and local law enforcement agencies to perform immigration enforcement activities. One can only guess how this will play out in the sanctuary cities and counties across the country.

A frustration encountered in the past when attempting to collect accurate crime statistics on foreign-born people in the United States was in most instances, the data was not available. It was not available because it is no longer the policy of the media to report such details or the policy of the law enforcement authorities to not collect the information. That has changed. The EO states that on a monthly basis statistical data on alien apprehension will be made available to the public.

At this point I think it is safe to assume that there are not only just more EOs on immigration coming down the pike, but also legislation that will be originating in both the House and Senate. As I write, there are a number of bills such as the Grassley-Durbin Senate Bill 2266 that deals with skilled worker visas, that are holed up in committees waiting to be brought to the floor for a vote.

Progressives for Immigration Reform has long advocated against unbridled immigration because of negative impact it has had on our most vulnerable citizens and environmental stresses caused by the acceleration of the size of our population. It is my hope that long overdue immigration reforms will be enacted. But, enacted in a humane fashion so as to win the consent and approval of all “sovereign people.”