LIZ PEEK: Trump could secure his place in American history with this bold immigration reform strategy
Ken Langone, the billionaire founder of Home Depot, recently said of President Donald Trump, "I think he’s got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best presidents ever."
That’s high praise from one of America’s most successful entrepreneurs, and well-deserved. President Trump is on a roll; as Langone said, "like it or not, this guy is getting things done … He’s acting presidential."
He’s right.
But…Trump could do more. Truly consequential presidents have a signature issue that leaves our country profoundly better off. FDR created our nation’s safety net, for instance, while Ronald Reagan ended the decades-long Cold War by defeating the Soviet Union.
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To join their ranks, Trump needs to more broadly address his signature issue and fix our dysfunctional immigration system. It’s a big lift, but history has shown this president is willing to go where others fear to tread.
President Trump should return to the immigration overhaul he proposed in his first term. Many of the proposals, like ditching the diversity lottery, were popular, but Democrats refused to play ball. Since then, Democrats have been clobbered in an election where their unpopular backing of open borders and illegal immigration became the second-most important campaign issue. They might be open to a deal.
Meanwhile, the president’s supporters applaud the drastic decline in illegal border crossings and his tougher stance on deportations, but the public overall is beginning to sour on Trump’s immigration crackdown. President Trump’s approval rating on immigration is dropping; according to Real Clear Politics polling, he has gone from solidly in the black on the issue to now underwater. Trump’s deportation sweeps have been vilified by Democrats and the legacy media; Americans are worried the White House is going too far.
Republicans claim they support legal immigration. They need to show the country they are serious, by working with the White House to draft policies that attract and keep the best and the brightest from around the world, that provide a legal solution for the millions living in our country illegally and that supply the seasonal workers we need.
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Reforms must eliminate benefits and work opportunities that attract illegal entrants and stop rewarding the politicians who gain from undocumented persons living in their states.
The GOP should drive this overhaul, or the next Democratic president will simply open the border again, as Joe Biden did, and our country will once more be overrun with people who do not pay taxes and who pose an undue burden on the communities who welcome them. All these issues are manageable; and the solutions can be sold to American voters. The priority is not to squash immigration, but to eliminate illegal immigration.
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Producing comprehensive immigration reform and pushing it through Congress will be contentious. Though in the past Democrats favored border security and other common-sense approaches, now they do not support any restrictions on illegal immigration and even advocate for criminals in the country illegally. They have long believed that Hispanics support them on this, but recent trends suggest that is not true. A recent survey found that Hispanic men, for instance, are abandoning Democrats in droves.
Here are critical elements of the program, which changes who gets in and who is allowed to stay.:
Immigration reform has routinely failed to make it through Congress as both parties historically have campaigned off this "wedge" issue. Today, President Trump has the clout, the credibility and the guts to push for change.
Democrats are in the dumps; helping to craft a bipartisan agreement on one of our nation’s biggest problems might begin their recovery. Both sides would benefit, as would the country.