It is being reported that Fox News has convinced President Trump that the immigration issue is a winner for him with his base and he should follow the networks lead in making it the number one issue. The reports tell us that Trump has met with more than one Fox host to discuss the subject matter and Trump has been following the networks broadcasts with his own tweets.
WWL talk radio in New Orleans has picked up the subject matter and made things worse for its audience with comments that lack facts on the issue and recently interviewed a person with the Heritage Foundation concerning the recent political history of immigration reform. And of course the conversations end up blaming President Obama for the nations lack of an immigration policy. That is what conservative republicans always do, blame others. It is their standard M.O.
The record is clear that the democratic controlled U.S. Senate passed a comprehensive immigration plan under Senate bill 744 in June of 2013 by a vote of 68-32. Fourteen republicans joined all the democrats in the Senate to pass the bill. That bill contained $30 billion to beef up border security by doubling border patrol agents, 700 miles of new fencing and advanced surveillance. It was truly comprehensive immigration reform. The CBO said the bill would increase the Gross Domestic Product and lower deficit spending. The George W. Bush Institute said the bill is bullish on the U.S. economy.
That senate passed bill was sent to the republican controlled U.S. House where it died. John Boehner, the republican speaker of the house at the time would not even take up the bill for debate, he just let it die. He said his house members approach to immigration reform would be peace meal and not comprehensive reform. So they killed the Senate passed bill. But guess what? Boehner's house never came up with a peace meal plan, not even to this very day. And to top it off, both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House have been controlled by the republican party for the last 3 years and two months and still do not have an immigration plan. And for the past 14 months Trump and his party have controlled it all and still no immigration plan.
Comprehensive immigration reform has been kicked down the road by both the republican party and Trump, not by the democratic party, and that is what prompted President Obama's executive orders on immigration and DACA. It was the trumpet man who campaigned on immigration and said he had a plan but he has none. Only the 4 points he addressed in his state of the union speech, but those points are not a plan. To make matters worse and show his ignorance on the matter, Trump cancelled DACA with out a plan to send congress to replace it.
Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader let the cat out of the bag when he said he did not know what Trump's immigration plan was. In other words, there is no Presidential leadership on immigration. Besides, Trump is known to undercut his own positions and what he agreed to with congress. He is doing that now with the $1.3 trillion spending bill he signed just recently. He now says he wants to cut some of that spending after Fox news and some conservatives stated their opposition to the spending bill.
Republican John Boehner, after resigning from the U.S. House said the republican party would never pass a health insurance plan because they really were never interested in doing so. He was right of course, but long before he said that you read it first here in PolitiDose. And the republican party is not interested in passing comprehensive immigration reform and neither is the trumpet man. President George W. Bush wanted a immigration reform bill but his party never took the matter up for debate during his 8 years in office.
Trump's rhetoric on the WALL, DACA and blaming democrats for any negative situation that happens on his and the republican watch is as old as the republican party itself. But the true story and the facts on immigration is a leaderless party with an ideology void of debate because they have a predetermined conclusion about the subject matter and not really interested except to use the issue to satisfy their base.
Trump and his party are in complete control of what issues congress will address and they have failed the test of leadership and governing. The news media does not get it because they are blinded by their own brand of ideology and as a result the people are not fully informed. For Trump and his party, nothing has changed, it has gotten worse with scandal after scandal and a President who respects no one. The rhetoric will continue to grow because courage is lacking and policy plans are no where to be found. People with common sense and knowledge on the subject matter will prevail at some point.
In the mean time, those who really care will understand the true facts about immigration.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
