What Donald Trump Should Have Said About Immigration
At the Republican debate in Milwaukee last night Donald Trump showed again why he connects with ordinary Americans and leaves the chattering classes cold. Specifically his answer on sending illegal immigrants out of the country, “We have no choice”, demonstrates a solid grasp of the problem that appeals to the, generally working class, people who have been negatively impacted by illegal immigrants. However he either can’t or won’t elaborate the reasons why “we”, in this case the citizens and government of the United States, “have no choice”, but to insist on strict adherence to our immigration laws and punishment for those that have broken our laws.
This is a little surprising because, from what I have learned from media reports anyway, people who know Donald Trump pretty uniformly consider him exceptionally intelligent and the reasons “we have no choice” are neither new nor complex. In short it is not within the power of any person or government to wish away the consequences of violating the law. Hopefully our man-made laws respect this principal but when they do not, the benefits of justice and good order that the law provides are lost. At best, it is only within the power of the government to determine who shall bear the burden that follows from violation of the law. And here the choices are pretty much limited to placing the burden, as much as possible, on those who have violated the law or placing the burden on the innocent.
It only requires a couple of examples. The immigration policies that Donald Trump opposes suggest that the entire working class in America should bear the economic burden of illegal immigration in the form of lower wages and higher unemployment for American citizens. Assertions that attempt to deny the economic consequences of massive illegal immigration or claim that many jobs are beneath the dignity of American citizens are pure fantasy. The law of supply and demand remains in full effect and for the right price there is no shortage of people who will learn to, for example, pick fruit or clean toilets. I know I have had both of those jobs when I needed the money. The reality is without cheap illegal labor wages for less skilled labor will rise to the level required to attract workers, whatever that level is. American workers will have more jobs and make more money. Does that sound bad to you?
The other example is more sinister. By placing themselves outside the law and good order, illegal immigrants provide a shelter and refuge for a criminal element that preys on innocent victims. Of course I have to mention the tragic murder of Kate Steinle in the notorious “sanctuary city” of San Francisco and don’t really need to say much else. Arguments about the exact number of crime victims, or how many extra deaths unlicensed illegal alien drivers are responsible for, miss the point. Given the size of the illegal alien population the number of victims is certainly in the thousands per year at least and any one of them could be your innocent parent, spouse, or child. This is the result of attempting to act as if there are no consequences to breaking the law. If justice is not maintained and the law enforced then the innocent pay the price.
None of this is new or surprising. In 1922 Calvin Coolidge observed, “It makes it necessary to keep in mind the limitation of what can be accomplished by law…When provision is made for far-reaching action by public authority…it all means the imposing of large additional obligations upon the people.” So what Donald Trump should have said is simply “We have no choice. Either we demand that our laws be respected and enforced or we will, in fact, continue to punish the innocent.”
At the Republican debate in Milwaukee last night Donald Trump showed again why he connects with ordinary Americans and leaves the chattering classes cold. Specifically his answer on sending illegal immigrants out of the country, “We have no choice”, demonstrates a solid grasp of the problem that appeals to the, generally working class, people who have been negatively impacted by illegal immigrants. However he either can’t or won’t elaborate the reasons why “we”, in this case the citizens and government of the United States, “have no choice”, but to insist on strict adherence to our immigration laws and punishment for those that have broken our laws.
This is a little surprising because, from what I have learned from media reports anyway, people who know Donald Trump pretty uniformly consider him exceptionally intelligent and the reasons “we have no choice” are neither new nor complex. In short it is not within the power of any person or government to wish away the consequences of violating the law. Hopefully our man-made laws respect this principal but when they do not, the benefits of justice and good order that the law provides are lost. At best, it is only within the power of the government to determine who shall bear the burden that follows from violation of the law. And here the choices are pretty much limited to placing the burden, as much as possible, on those who have violated the law or placing the burden on the innocent.
It only requires a couple of examples. The immigration policies that Donald Trump opposes suggest that the entire working class in America should bear the economic burden of illegal immigration in the form of lower wages and higher unemployment for American citizens. Assertions that attempt to deny the economic consequences of massive illegal immigration or claim that many jobs are beneath the dignity of American citizens are pure fantasy. The law of supply and demand remains in full effect and for the right price there is no shortage of people who will learn to, for example, pick fruit or clean toilets. I know I have had both of those jobs when I needed the money. The reality is without cheap illegal labor wages for less skilled labor will rise to the level required to attract workers, whatever that level is. American workers will have more jobs and make more money. Does that sound bad to you?
The other example is more sinister. By placing themselves outside the law and good order, illegal immigrants provide a shelter and refuge for a criminal element that preys on innocent victims. Of course I have to mention the tragic murder of Kate Steinle in the notorious “sanctuary city” of San Francisco and don’t really need to say much else. Arguments about the exact number of crime victims, or how many extra deaths unlicensed illegal alien drivers are responsible for, miss the point. Given the size of the illegal alien population the number of victims is certainly in the thousands per year at least and any one of them could be your innocent parent, spouse, or child. This is the result of attempting to act as if there are no consequences to breaking the law. If justice is not maintained and the law enforced then the innocent pay the price.
None of this is new or surprising. In 1922 Calvin Coolidge observed, “It makes it necessary to keep in mind the limitation of what can be accomplished by law…When provision is made for far-reaching action by public authority…it all means the imposing of large additional obligations upon the people.” So what Donald Trump should have said is simply “We have no choice. Either we demand that our laws be respected and enforced or we will, in fact, continue to punish the innocent.”
posted by IR1 at 2:48 PM
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