“Immigrants cherry-picked for the role [of villain] are featured in ads for Donald Trump. The ads present the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, as weak, dangerous and totally responsible for an immigrant ‘invasion.’ The consensus is that these ads are false or misleading.
“The border is not in crisis. Border-crossing numbers are down. Immigrants’ contribution to crime is negligible. Their contribution to our economy is immense“ So the claims are bogus but highly effective. . . . Americans cite immigration as one of their top concerns. And ex-prosecutor Harris has reacted by emphasizing her tough-on-crime bona fides.
“There is a better answer. I listened for it during the Democratic National Convention recently in Chicago. In what was, even with some stumbles, a superb farewell speech, President Joe Biden, came close.
“Biden said that Trump killed the strongest bipartisan immigration bill ever crafted in the Senate. Importantly, he added, reform ahead must include protections for Dreamers and other immigrants. Great, but I’m mindful that Biden earlier this year caved to the GOP rhetoric and issued an executive order on asylum that many believe is both immoral and illegal. . . .
“I also listened to the words from a daughter of immigrants, Harris.“ I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship—and secure our border,” she said.
“I get it. When the other side is scaring the bejesus out of Americans with visions of foreign rapists and murderers, Democrats think they have to sound tough. Hence words like ‘secure’ when it comes to the border and that word, ‘earned,’ before ‘pathway to citizenship.’ . . .
“Amnesty involves forgiveness. There is nothing to forgive. Being compelled to be here by root problems in countries of origin does not require forgiveness. There’s also no doubt that many immigrant workers who have been here for years have already “earned” a right to that pathway.” – No Toughness on Immigration without Fairness, O. Ricardo Pimentel, Yahoo News, 8/26/24 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: Pimentel’s statement that illegal aliens don’t need forgiveness speaks volumes. It is just another way of saying that our laws, the democratic system that creates them, and very sovereignty of our country are meaningless. For Illegal alien advocates, patriotism is a low priority concern—if any concern at all. Kamala Harris shares Pimentel’s view that illegal immigration really isn’t a crime.
Nevertheless, as politician, Harris realizes that she at least has to care about the patriotic sentiments that most Americans share. So she and Joe Biden are shamelessly trying to portray themselves as immigration hardliners. Thus, we heard Biden claim at the Democratic convention that he pushed a strong border control bill, only to have it defeated by Trump. This is now the party line of the pro-alien advocates who believe that people will believe this fable if they, and their compliant media, repeat it enough times. The reality is that the bill was a sham measure which would have done nothing to secure the border. That’s why Trump opposed it.
Today, border crossing numbers are down from the record-setting levels of last year. Nevertheless, the numbers would be higher if the administration counted the illegal aliens it “legally” admits under its distortion of the parole law. In any case, a big reason migration has subsided is because the Mexican government has taken steps to slow it down. Evidence suggests that this was part of a deal with the Biden Administration to give the impression—at least until the November election—that the border was being secured.
Pimentel says that the crimes of illegal aliens are “negligible” and their contributions to the economy are “immense.” He simply ignores the reality that all illegal aliens, but definition, are criminals, and their crimes aren’t victimless. The further claim that illegals commit less violent crime than natives is far from proven. The cheap labor of illegal immigrants indeed helps the economy of the wealthy by increasing their profit margins. At the same time, it depresses the wages and economic profits of the not-so-well-to-do. Illegal aliens, over their lifetimes, get more in benefits than they pay in taxes.
Pimentel maintains that there can be no toughness on illegal immigration without fairness. Obviously, his version of fairness is no toughness at all.