Maggie Haberman at the New York Times reported Tuesday that President Trump some time ago was “asking close aides how he could get out of the political jam he found himself in” with relation to his campaign promise to deport the illegal immigrants protected by DACA.
I’m not sure what he’s so worried about. Trump’s supporters must have figured out by now that if there’s one thing they can count on him for, it’s caving when under pressure on his most potent issue.
The Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments on DACA, and the more conservative wing of justices were apparently sympathetic to the illegal immigrants but also skeptical that it wasn’t within the president’s authority to end a program that was set up by his predecessor’s executive action.
Assuming the court rules in Trump’s favor, the administration could immediately continue fulfilling a campaign promise. But he probably won’t.
Recall earlier this year, when Trump announced on Twitter that the administration was set to “begin the process of removing the millions of illegal aliens who have illicitly found their way into the United States. They will be removed as fast as they come in.”
Millions, he said! The next day during a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, he again said that “millions” of illegal immigrants would be rounded up and sent back where they came from.
The Washington Post reported at the time that Trump had “directed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to conduct a mass roundup of migrant families that have received deportation orders, an operation that is likely to begin with predawn raids in major U.S. cities on Sunday …”
The buildup was very impressive. Trump then proceeded with a belly-flop. He went on Twitter to say that “at the request of Democrats,” he was halting the deportations for two weeks (a time period he routinely throws out when he has no intention of following through on something).
Remember the great government shutdown that Trump was “proud” to own after he couldn’t get Democrats to give him money to build more wall? He caved on that, too.
Remember when his Justice Department took a “zero tolerance” position on illegal border crossings? He caved on that, too.
This is how Trump operates. He had promised a tough line on immigration, got elected, and then forgot all about it.
He doesn’t need to worry about any “political jam” he’s in. Everyone knows what he’ll do.
