Hangin’ With the Worst of the Worst
By Allan J. Feifer www.americanthinker.com
Every single illegal alien (the legal term) must leave our country. Yes, we need to reform our immigration laws to encourage and support legal immigration that reflects our country’s economic needs and values, while rejecting any notion that America is open to all comers. Republicans are missing a historic opportunity to set the tone of immigration for generations to come.
Where we conservatives got it wrong is that our messaging was that we’re only going after the worst of the worst. That set an expectation that only a select few illegals would be deported, leading to disingenuous outrage by media outlets and politicians. (Did you hear Dick Durbin equating arresting illegal aliens to WWII internment camps?)
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The entire Trump administration knew that was not the case. Wherever you find one bad guy (or girl), you are bound to find others, mainly economic migrants or, even more problematic, family members, some of whom were born here after coming illegally—the result—perennially bad optics.
Then there is the definition of what the worst of the worst even means. According to Homeland Security, the definition is. The Trump Administration defines “the worst of the worst” as illegal aliens convicted of serious crimes, particularly violent offenses such as murder, rape, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking.
Eventually, that definition was reasonably expanded to include illegal aliens who have a record of arrests but not necessarily convictions, those awaiting trial for violent or even economic crimes, and other undesirables. But that’s not good enough. None of them should be here.
The issue of undesirables needs a national discussion. Beating around the bush by claiming we are only going after a subset of illegal aliens has the effect of legitimizing other illegals not deemed the “worst of the worst”. That’s a huge public relations mistake that the left has exploited the Trump administration hasn’t addressed.
The direct result of losing the narrative through an unforced error is that the Democrats have been able to claim that touching anyone who is not a felon criminal puts democracy at risk, as if illegal aliens were somehow the equal of American citizens. In the process, they have devalued what it means to be an American citizen. Congress must rectify the blurring of the line between non-citizens and citizens; the President cannot.
Border czar Tom Homan stated that many people who are national security threats may not have criminal records but remain dangerous due to their intent or affiliations. The net result of this poorly conceived and implemented messaging is a gift to the left. Despite Trump’s efforts, most illegal aliens are still here, and aren’t going anywhere:
- Since Donald Trump came into office, about 515,000 illegal aliens (projected to be over 600,000 by the end of the year) have been or will have been deported.
- 1.6 million have self-deported during the same time period.
- The three most concentrated states for illegal immigrants are California, New York, and Illinois, with over 2.6 million illegal aliens.
- The Immigration Court System has 600 immigration judges overseeing 2.8 million cases, half of which involve individuals who have already been denied the right to stay and are fighting it. The balance is still to be adjudicated.
- 34% of asylum seekers never appear at their immigration hearings, resulting in default deportation orders.
- Eight hundred fifty thousand individuals have overstayed their visas and are subject to deportation.
- 56% of all illegal aliens reside in 13 sanctuary cities or states.
- Twenty-seven million people are trafficked in the world, with an unknown number, but in the hundreds of thousands, right here in the U.S., victimized.
Reading the above, it is not difficult to conclude that illegal immigration is a cancer in our country. A Harvard/Harris poll in October of this year found 56% of registered voters favor deporting all illegal immigrants. Reasons you hear for why illegal immigration cannot be allowed vary, including issues of the rule of law, criminality, economic costs, and the intent to change this country’s demographics, among others.
But perhaps the best reason is the easiest to understand—it’s simply not fair to the millions of people who are already here or want to be here legally. And that’s where it matters that the Trump administration has ceded ground to Democrats, allowing them to claim that “non-criminal” illegal aliens are de facto legal in some way. The consequences for this are dire.
America is America for a reason. Partly, it’s about our European ancestors who established a society fundamentally different from those of individuals from other parts of the world with different customs, outlooks, and aspirations. But, it is even more than that. An America that no longer has a shared common history is degraded.
Diversity, trumpeted as a strength, is a dagger aimed at our heart that we don’t name for fear of being labeled a racist. Millions of people believe this, yet don’t riot in the streets, loot, or attend large rallies in support of protecting our identity, nor break our laws as if they have a constitutional right to do so.
The silent majority needs to grow a spine and come to grips with the loss of our country through illegal immigration by millions of people who will not assimilate as past generations did. We must understand that the loudest voices are not fundamentally pro-American. Pretending that they are has opened the floodgates, leading to a radical shift in our country's direction. It’s as if a swarm of locusts has descended on us, hollowing out our country day by day.
Thankfully, Americans are slowly gaining the courage to reject the left’s call to spread our arms around not just the worst of the worst, but all the many interlopers who want what you have!
Not all immigrants are bad, of course, but the act of coming here illegally forever tarnishes all. That’s the ultimate reality that Biden and politicians like Durbin bequeathed to them all.
God Bless America!
