(This caricature of Donald Trump is by DonkeyHotey.)Donald Trump started his campaign by appealing to the anti-immigrant teabaggers in the Republican base. He called undocumented immigrants criminals and rapists -- and accused Mexico of "sending" us their worst people. It was a racist rant (because it was directed only at brown-skinned immigrants), and it worked. It catapulted him to the front of the GOP presidential race.
But more rational people recognized his xenophobic rant for what it was, and they demanded to know what his plan for immigrants would be. He has now complied and issued his plan. Unfortunately, that "plan" is as ridiculous as his initial ranting.
First, he wants to deport all undocumented immigrants. That may please the teabaggers, but anyone with half a brain knows it is simply unworkable. How do you round up and deport 11 million people? And even if you could do that, how would you replace the positive economic impact those people have on this country's economy? They pay billions in income taxes (and get no refunds), and billions more in sales taxes, property taxes, and other taxes and fees. And that doesn't even begin to address the billions in sales they make at American businesses. Anti-immigrant forces like to paint these immigrants as being a drag on our economy, but the exact opposite is true -- they are a boon to the economy.
But Trump's plan is worse than unworkable. It is immoral. Trump says he would do away with President Obama's order that the families of "Dreamers" (those brought to this country as young people, and grew up here) not be deported. He would deport those families, including the children who grew up and were educated in this country (and including many who have served in our military or graduated from college). Can you imagine being deported to a foreign country after spending nearly your whole life in this country (and knowing nothing about that other country)? These are not criminals. They are decent, hard-working people who contribute to this country in many ways -- and kicking them out is immoral and unthinkable!
Trump's plan would also deny citizenship to those born in this country, if their parents were undocumented immigrants. This is clearly unconstitutional. Our Founding Fathers made it clear (by including it in our Constitution) that anyone born in the United States should be a citizen of the United States. Denying citizenship to a person born here would have those Founding Fathers spinning in their graves -- regardless of who the parents were. And I personally don't think the Constitution could be amended to allow Trump's clearly racist dream.
Fortunately, most Americans aren't as stupid and mean as Trump and his teabagger buddies. They know this country was built on the hard work and dreams of immigrants (both documented and undocumented), and 65% of them want an immigration law that would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Even 50% of Republicans would like to see that.
Trump has struck a chord with the haters in the Republican Party, and that may help him in the primaries (because those people vote in large numbers). But it's not going to be successful in a general election.
The chart below was made from a Gallup Poll -- done between June 15th and July 10th of a random national sample of 2,296 adults, with a margin of error of 4 points.
