Border security is fine. Sheer cruelty to get there is not.
New reporting from the New York Times reveals disturbing details about President Trump's vision for a border wall that are downright inhumane.
Here’s what the Times reports:
It sounds unbelievable, and Trump denies the story, but the Times was thorough in confirming the story. As they say, "This article is based on interviews with more than a dozen White House and administration officials directly involved in the events of that week in March. They were granted anonymity to describe sensitive conversations with the president and top officials in the government."
Think about this for a moment: President Trump, if he had his way, would have us shoot border crossers, many of whom are women and children. Wanting to secure the border is fine, but it's another level to be so paranoid to want a draconian moat, with a trench filled with alligators. That's outlandish and absurd.
President Trump wanted the border closed. He wanted a snake-filled moat. He fired aides who pushed back. Here's an inside look at his border war. https://t.co/SyC62z64xc
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 1, 2019
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to secure the border. A sovereign country has the right to protect its citizens and enforce its borders. Despite what some liberal critics suggest, it’s not racist or xenophobic to support a border wall. But immigration policy calls for both prudence and compassion, which Trump clearly lacks on this issue.
Per the Times’ reporting, Trump’s aides have repeatedly had to plead with him to not shut the border down in its entirety. Shutting down the border would be a disaster: It would cause enormous economic disruption and shut down the personal and commercial traffic that relies on traveling across the border every day.
Apparently Trump viewed more level-headed immigration officials such as former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as members of the “deep state,” because anti-immigration activist Ann Coulter and Fox Business pundit Lou Dobbs "hate her."
It’s worth pointing out just how exaggerated the border threat has become. Yes, border security is important — but it’s also true that illegal immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born citizens, and border crossings are already falling without the implementation of such disturbing enforcement methods.
All in all, these revelations paint a disturbing picture of Trump’s approach to immigration. He is right to want to secure the border, but this can be done in a safe, humane, and compassionate way. The president’s fantasies are anything but.
