by Domenico Maceri* –
“When Mexico sends its people to us they do not send their best elements…. they send us people with a lot of problems… they bring drugs, they bring crimes and they are rapists, and some, I think they are good people too.” With these words Donald Trump started his first presidential campaign in 2015. His line has not changed, but his recent attacks on migrants include many other countries as well on Mexico. According to the tycoon, all the migrants come from “insane asylums”. Why Trump uses “asylum” and adds “insane” is not known. Some have taken the view that he does not understand the language of “asylum”, the political refuge sought by new arrivals, and it is colored in a way that makes it offensive.
The rhetoric on immigrants has not changed much for Trump that he used to gain support in the polls. In fact, his constant declarations of an “invasion” from the southern border of the country are working and have pushed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to move to the right. In this they were influenced by opinion polls that see immigration as one of the three most important issues (economy 38%, abortion 16%, immigration 11%). Other polls confirm that Trump’s rhetoric on chaos on the border with Mexico is working. 61% of Americans believe that the US does not have border control, while only 28% believe the opposite.
Trump would be ahead in the polls as he was able to solve the problems on the border with Mexico (Trump 53%, Harris 45%). In summary, the Republican candidate’s hardline views on immigration were better than the Democratic candidate’s more moderate line. And the measures proposed by Trump are really tough. They include the largest mass deportation of the 11 million residents without a legal residence permit. The Republican candidate made a big catch, but his proposal would be included in detail in Project 2025 according to which the National Guard would be militarized with broad powers to identify those who have no right to be in the country, raiding schools, hospitals, churches and construction sites. Implementation could be difficult to achieve, as employers would revolt, as happened in the agricultural areas. In 1998, for example, agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) visited onion fields in Georgia without warning, causing an uprising by the employers. After the intervention of a Republican member of parliament who protested by stating “the obvious lack of respect” for the farmers, the raids were called off. We could not accept that the onions were rotting. After all, business is business.
Kamala Harris recognized that immigration represents a weak point, but she managed to beat Trump by correctly pointing out that he is not interested in solving the country’s problems, prioritizing the -his personal interests. In February of this year, in fact, the US Senate approved a law that should have pleased Trump since he was supported by ultra-conservative senators even if he was supported by Democratic votes. The law would increase the number of border patrols if the numbers increase, allocate money to increase the number of agents at the border and invest in technological equipment to catch drug traffickers. However, Trump torpedoed the law, threatening Republican lawmakers. House Speaker Mike Johnson did not put the legislation up for a vote. Harris said in her speech at the Democratic Convention that as president she would recommend the law again and she might sign it.
In every conversation about immigration, Trump has emphasized the negative aspects. Nevertheless, when considering the situation of the eleven million immigrants without the right to legal residence, another picture emerged. 59 percent of Americans would give these people the right to stay in the United States. This figure also includes 32 percent of Trump supporters. In addition, another poll shows that 68 percent of Americans want to cooperate with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to regulate the status of “Dreamers”. These “dreamers” are young people who are brought to the US as children by their parents without legal permission. They actually see themselves as Americans in every way because the only country they really know is the US. It seems strange that neither Republicans nor Democrats have already enacted a law to regulate their situation because it would have the approval of the majority of Americans. And the parents and other family members of these “dreamers”? After all, they don’t live alone and have families. It would be cruel to separate them from their relatives, send some away, and leave others in the country. Families are important, at least that’s what we hear from both parties.
Not so much from Trump, however. As we know, Trump’s mother was born in Scotland so he has roots in other countries as well. It should be added that his first wife Ivana and the third Melania were born in other countries, the first in Czechoslovakia and the second in Slovenia. Unlike Trump, however, Harris is not keeping quiet about her parents’ origins. As we know, his father was born in Jamaica and his mother in India. The two met in Berkeley, California, and she spoke at length about them, especially her mother, who took care of raising herself after her parents’ divorce.
These family aspects are put in the background and at the same time almost nothing is mentioned in the election campaign about the contribution of immigrants to the history of the country. Trump, in particular, focuses on the negative aspects that are important to him to achieve political goals, keeping the situation in the news, without any attempt to solve it. Trump enjoys the unresolved immigration issue and has no intention of losing one of his trump cards. During the 2016 election campaign, Trump promised to build the wall on the border with Mexico when he was elected president. It would be a “big wall” and it would not have cost much. He also promised that Mexico would pay the costs. In fact that was one of his broken promises. Better to continue to hold immigration without solutions and convince ill-informed voters, who have too short memories, that it will solve their problems. In fact, he will try to solve his own problems, not the problems of the Americans.
* Domenico Maceri, PhD, is professor emeritus at Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, California. Some of his articles have won awards from the National Association of Hispanic Publications.
