Donald Trump, the leading candidate for the GOP presidential nominee, has stirred controversy over the past month or two in regards to his most impassioned topic, illegal immigration. From touting building an insurmountable wall on the U.S. Southern border to mass deporting an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants and only allowing the “good ones” to come back, Trump has managed to dominate any political discussion in the media. Trump is confident that he will efficiently remove the millions of illegal immigrants living in the U.S.
Trump was pressed to explain how he would implement such an undertaking this past Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Trump repeatedly responded that through sheer “management” he would execute all his goals in relation to this topic. While I think mass deportation isn’t the right approach, nor is it feasible no matter how much we are told otherwise, there is one question Mr. Trump has not been asked by any interviewer.
During the Fox News Republican primary held earlier this month in Ohio, Trump explained that as a businessman he personally has never filed for bankruptcy. He went on to say that some of his entities he owns have filed for bankruptcy and that there was nothing wrong with doing so. In fact, he said he’d be dumb not to take advantage of the law; that every major businessman was doing it. He also said that our politicians were idiots because there were such loopholes in the law and this presented prime opportunities for the people who knew how to take advantage. I don’t have a problem with someone who in a legal manner tries to procure the best business outcome.
The question I have and the one I’d ask Mr. Trump is: why is this any different from the person who comes to this country knowing that if they gave birth then their child would become a U.S. citizen? Aren’t they too taking advantage of the law? These parents are only trying to provide the best opportunity for their children.
Let me be clear, this doesn’t mean I think we should continue to have porous infrastructure securing our borders. I think a path to citizenship, including penalties, etc. is probably the best way to go about addressing this issue. I support measures like E-verify. The notion of mass deportation is not practical. Furthermore, while this is something that should be addressed by our presidential candidate I by no means think this issue has a direct correlation to the state of our economy. Why are we as a party moving away from discussing conservative principles? Most of the interviews I see on different networks center on the candidate’s opinion on Trump. I feel that the GOP is moving off-topic and this to me does not bode well for the general election.
What do you think?
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Twitter: @adrakontaidis & @talkrealdebate
