Tag: immigration reform

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Trump: “We’re Working On A Plan For DACA”

You could get whiplash following the story of whether or not Donald Trump has agreed to work with Democrats in Congress on solving the issue of DACA.

Last night Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi announced, after a dinner meeting at the White House, that Trump had agreed to support legislation that would allow undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the states.

Then, Trump tweeted there was no deal.

Now, he says there is.

From the New York Times:

President Trump confirmed on Thursday morning that he supports legislation that would protect young undocumented immigrants from deportation and would deliver a “massive” increase in border security — but not with a wall on the southern border.

Mr. Trump’s comments, both in Washington and in Florida, affirmed the broad parameters of an agreement that Democratic leaders unilaterally announced Wednesday night after dinner with the president at the White House.

In remarks to reporters as he left the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump said, “We’re working on a plan for DACA,” referring to protections for immigrants who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He confirmed, “the wall will come later.”

Mr. Trump’s comments seemed to contradict his own Twitter posts early Thursday morning when he said, “no deal was made last night on DACA.” But they were very much in line with Democratic leaders’ statements. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, also stopped short of calling their agreement a “deal” on Thursday.

But she told reporters, “We agreed to a plan to protect our nation’s Dreamers from deportation,” adding that there would be a “border security measure that does not include a wall” included in immigration legislation.

Anti-immigration Republicans like Rep. Steve King are furious over the developments:

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No “Legal Status” Compromise For Undocumented Immigrants From Trump

President Trump

After surprising many with his flirtation yesterday afternoon with possible legal status for undocumented immigrants, the idea was not included in President Trump’s address to a joint sessions of Congress.

Many are curious about what happened between Trump’s lunch with TV news anchors and the actual speech in the Capitol last night.

From the New York Times:

The session with the television anchors started out as a nod to tradition by a president who has broken so many. Like his predecessors on the day of a State of the Union address, Mr. Trump hosted the journalists for what was supposed to be an unrecorded lunch to give them a sense of what he would tell Congress. But the conversation took a surprising turn when some of the anchors asked about his efforts to deport many of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the country illegally. Without being prompted, Mr. Trump then raised the idea of legislation, noting that there had not been any comprehensive law passed by Congress on the subject since Ronald Reagan’s amnesty program in the 1980s.

He told the anchors it was time for a bill that would grant legal status to many of those in the country illegally as long as both sides compromised, similar to the legislation sought but never passed by George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Mr. Trump said he recognized that it would cause him political problems with his conservative base voters, according to people in the room, but added that he thought he could keep them happy since they had stuck with him throughout last year’s Republican primaries.

When Mr. Trump offered the idea, he let the word “compromise” hang in the air, gauging the reaction. He then turned to Hope Hicks, his director of strategic communications, and suggested that the thought could be added to his speech.

As Mr. Trump’s words settled over the State Dining Room, the president’s aides glanced at one another. They moved quickly to alert Mr. Bannon and Mr. Miller, two of the main keepers of Mr. Trump’s address before Congress.

And there, we find the answer: Bannon and Miller were not about to allow their protege some kind of political compromise. “Compromise” has yet to be added to this administration’s vocabulary.

Most political experts, when they heard of the idea being floated, did not buy into such prospects.

And now you know why.

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Trump Signs Executive Order Beginning Process Of Building “The Wall”

President Trump today signed the executive that begins the process of building the famous “Wall” on the border of the United States and Mexico.

In recent weeks since the election, Trump has changed course on how to pay for the wall. Throughout the campaign, Trump repeated over and over that Mexico would “pay for” the wall. But now, the new president says that tax payers will foot the bill initially, and will eventually be reimbursed by Mexico through some mechanism yet to be determined/

From Buzzfeed:

“We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning,” Trump said as he signed an executive order launching the process of “immediately” building a physical wall between the United States and Mexico.

The action, taken less than a week before Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is scheduled to visit his US counterpart is already drawing calls for the meeting between the two to be cancelled.

A person familiar with the matter said that Peña Nieto is “considering” canceling the visit, but spoke on condition of anonymity because plans have not been finalized.

Construction of the concrete wall dividing the two countries, which Trump has said will be as high as 55 feet, was indeed one of his first promises on the campaign trail. Further rousing the ire of his southern neighbors, Trump, in the same speech where he announced he was running for president, accused Mexico of sending criminals and “rapists” across the border and promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the majority of them Mexican.

Additionally, Trump says he plans to take away federal funds from any state or local governments that fail to follow his deportation policies. Opponents of that plan say withholding federal funds from “sanctuary cities” would be unconstitutional.

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White Supremacist Movement LOVED Donald Trump’s Immigration Tirade

While many who watched Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump yell his way through a “policy” speech on immigration last night in Arizona were left fairly dismayed, Trump’s white supremacist followers were thrilled.

Anyone expecting some kind of “pivot” during the general election may be surprised to learn that the pivot was from the far-right to the alt-right.

The speech was a grim, high volume rough ride that bordered on fear-mongering against all immigrants. Just the kind of thing white nationalists/supremacists love.

David Duke, former KKK Grand Wizard and current candidate for the U.S. Senate:

Richard Spencer, of the white nationalist think tank National Policy Institute:

Jared Taylor, editor for the white nationalist publication American Renaissance:

According to former campaign manager and current adviser Corey Lewandowski, the speech was written to appeal to the white male voters who already support Trump’s nationalist policies. “White males have a high propensity of voting and this speech is clearly geared at those individuals right now, to make sure he has locked them in for the election,” said Lewandowski on CNN after the hour long speech.

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News Round-Up: August 30, 2016

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Photographer Ricki Beason’s 2017 “Heartthrobs and Hound Dogs” calendar is out, featuring hunky Texas police officers, firefighters and military veterans. Proceeds go to help Texas dog rescue organizations, so winners all around 🙂

• Former models for the Donald Trump company Trump Model Management say they worked for months without proper visas or or work permits. #ColorMeShocked

• Lance Bass, host of the LOGO TV gay dating show “Finding Price Charming,” confirms that one contestant is HIV+ and that the disclosure will be front and center in an upcoming episode.

• Sarah Palin on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick: “American, let’s sack this ungrateful punk.”

• Meet the guy who’s making bank offering folks a chance at “Dinner with Trump” for a campaign donation – trick is, he’s not affiliated with the Trump campaign.

• Listen below as wing nut Wayne Root explains folks who receive food stamps or welfare or birth control through Obamacare should lose their right to vote. Of course, the idea is unconstitutional, but hey…

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The Flip-Flop: Donald Trump Officially “Softens” On Illegal Immigration Plans

After launching his campaign with an attack on undocumented immigrants, and continuing on for over a year promising his supporters he will deport 11 million of them through using a “deportation force,” Donald Trump finally acknowledges that the entire concept was flawed, ruthless and inhumane.

Here’s the pivot!

From the New York Daily News:

“Now, everybody agrees we get the bad ones out,” he told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject, and I’ve had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me, and they’ve said, ‘Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who’s been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it’s so tough, Mr. Trump.’ I have it all the time! It’s a very, very hard thing.”

Still, Trump said there would be “no amnesty” for undocumented immigrants, even if they have committed no crimes.

“No citizenship,” Trump said. “Let me go a step further — they’ll pay back taxes, they have to pay taxes, there’s no amnesty, as such, there’s no amnesty, but we work with them.”

Really? After telling the country for a YEAR that “they gotta go,” now Trump says he’s “softening” on his ideas to cope with illegal immigration in a play for the Hispanic vote?

This is the definition of a classic “flip-flop.”

Or is he really not reaching for Latinos, but just wants to look a bit more palatable to Republican voters who were on the fence?

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Pro-Hillary Clinton PAC Attacks Republican Candidates Stance On Immigrants

A new political ad, produced by the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Priorities USA, highlights much of the controversial campaign rhetoric made by Donald Trump and other GOP hopefuls on the issue of immigration including the use of the term “anchor babies.”

The New York Times reports that the ad will begin airing in the swing states of Colorado, Florida and Nevada, all of which have large populations of Hispanics.

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Another Company Dumps Trump – Perfumania “Winding Down” Business With The Donald

Another large company has decided to end it’s business dealing with Donald Trump as his controversial campaign statements continue to inflame customers and voters.

From Forbes:

It hasn’t been a great few weeks for Brand Trump. In recent days, companies and groups including Macy’s, NBC, Nascar, Serta, the PGA and clothing manufacturer PVH PVH +0.99% Corp. have all cut ties with The Donald following his controversial comments on Mexican immigrants.

Now, the country’s largest fragrance retailer has decided to stop working with the Republican presidential candidate following days of internal discussions.

“Perfumania is winding down its retail business with the Trump fragrance brand,” said a spokesperson for the Bellport, NY-based firm.

The publicly-listed company, best known for its mall stores, had marketed two separate scents inspired by the real estate mogul: Success by Trump, which retails at $49.60 for a 3.4 oz eau de toilette, and Empire by Trump.

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Meet Ana

Meet Ana, a 20-year-old college student from Dallas and guest at the State of the Union.

“As I write this letter, my heart pounds and tears roll out of my eyes as I remember all the sacrifices my parents have made through the years to procure me a better future.”

This September, Ana Zamora, a 20-year-old college student from Dallas, Texas, sat down at her desk to write a letter to her President. “My parents brought me to the United States before my first birthday, 20 years ago,” she said. “As with any other dreamer, my parents came to this country with a dream of a better future for their children.”

This is the only country Ana has ever called home. So when the President took action to give children who grew up in the U.S. temporary status in 2012, she was overjoyed. “I am finally a person in the United States,” she wrote the President. “I have a social security number, an employment authorization card and a driver’s license to drive the car I pay for with my own money (which I earned working with my employment authorization card) and pay taxes as any law-abiding U.S. citizen. I could not be more proud of myself!!!)

Ana’s life has fundamentally changed. And because she has siblings who are U.S. citizens, her parents – a small business owner and a construction worker — are among the millions of people who are potentially eligible for the new Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program the President announced last November. Now, Ana plans on going after a masters degree in business administration while helping to mentor students in situations just like hers. “The United States is my country,” she wrote. “It is where I grew up, took my first steps, learned to read, write, play, graduated from high school, and will graduate from college.”

Ana Zamora is joining the First Lady as a guest at the 2015 State of the Union Address on January 20.