"Trump adviser accidentally reveals border wall, immigrant-tracking"
Recently, a photo of Trump and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach was taken in which the documents in Kobach's hand can be read by looking closely. These documents contained notes on a meeting between Kobach and Trump discussing immigration. Among the notes were mentions of deportation, the patriot act, refugees, and of course, the wall. There were rumors floating around that the wall wouldn't be built and that Trump isn't really that strict on immigration, but this photo gives evidence against those rumors. The policies and ideas represented in the documents show very strict immigration policies and live up to exactly what Trump was campaigning for. How do you think people who may have thought he wasn't being completely serious will react to this? Do you think this is concrete evidence of the wall, or may he still change his mind? How do you think the public will react since the documents had mention of the controversial patriot act? Do you think his ideas are too extreme to get support, or are they just extreme enough?
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I think the people who thought Trump was not being serious will be upset. Still, I do not think that this is concrete evidence of the wall. An idea is easy to advocate for on the campaign trail, but implementing it is much harder in the real world. Given the many financial and legal difficulties of building such a large structure, I believe that Trump will significantly scale back his plans for a full-blown wall. That being said, it is probable that he will try to build some sort of new barrier on the Mexican border. The public is sure to be frustrated if Trump intends to implement the type of practices that took place under the Patriot Act. I think Trumps ideas are too extreme to get the majority of the public to support him, but clearly, a majority is not needed to pursue them.
ReplyDeleteI think that many of the people that voted for Trump voted for him because of his immigration policies and promises. After a few days of him being elected rumors spread he was going to be a bit more lenient than he made himself seem to be during the election. Many people who don’t like Trump were both confused and, dare I say, hopeful about that news. But this rumor of his being lenient could go down the drain.
ReplyDeleteIt’s comical that those documents were accidently not kept a secret. It shows the sheer stupidity and irresponsibility already taking place in this administration. I don’t exactly thing this document is solid proof of anything. He isn’t President yet—things change over time, and there is a lot of time for ideas to change. It is of course something to keep in mind. Many of this things Trump said on his campaign simply cannot be accomplished—a full wall is one of those things. The more Trump realizes this, the more lenient he might have to make himself out to be because he will not let people believe he made a mistake and didn’t know how the government worked while he was campaigning.
The more I see the less I want to know. At what point will the public as a whole (or at least a majority) start questioning Trump's actions? I'm personally surprised that we've gotten this far and most have seemingly accepted Trump as an afterthought. I wasn't expecting these actions because they should cause such a fuss that Trump's support would start to fizzle out, but if this is the case, then it might as well be a green light for Trump and his advisors to push the limits of enacting more of their personal beliefs, which I really don't want to witness. My first reaction after the election was to watch and see if Trump would maybe realize the situation got himself into, and potentially shape up and improve himself as a person for the job. But seeing these documents destroys my hopes, and ignites my worry and anger. If Trump is seriously going to consider actions of such implications, I honestly don't think he cares what the public thinks and is going to get as much done as possible. The only thing that could turn Trump around at this point would be his own party, which I think is swinging his way just to keep themselves in safe positions. I'm praying that this is as bad as it gets, but I would not bet anything on Trump changing his course of action without signifigant public outcry.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Samir that those who thought Trump was not serious will be upset, but that it just doesn't seem feasible. Building a wall is incredibly expensive, and the USA (as Trump was quick to point out during his campaign) doesn't really have a lot of spare money lying around. I just can't imagine us as a nation having enough money to build a wall. I'm sure his supporters are overjoyed at this photo, as many of them were probably not very happy to hear the wall may not be a possibility. I would like to think that the public as a whole is against such drastic measures as Trump wants to take. Fine if he wants to toughen up the immigration laws a bit, that's fair and within his power, but a wall and some of the other things are just completely ridiculous and frankly terrifying. I can't imagine that the American public would stand for something so drastic, but I do see him making reforms to immigration in the future; I just hope we don't end up with a wall as the result.
ReplyDeleteIf Trump is actually going to attempt to implement hardline immigration policies, I doubt most of his supporters, even if they didn't think he was serious, will care very much. Immigration was his central theme, and you basically had to agree with him on that to support him. After all, being "tough on immigration" is what led him to defeat over a dozen other GOP candidates. I highly doubt this is concrete evidence of the wall. The wall, unless scaled down to a simple fence, is completely unfeasible. The costs are enormous, and there is no way the government will have money to spend on it after the "Trump tax cuts" go into effect. The truth is we don't really know what his immigration policies will be. He has put Sessions, a hardliner, in his cabinet, but given the amount of backtracking Trump has done already, I wouldn't be surprised if he settled on just deporting illegals who have committed crimes and and ignoring the millions of others.The Patriot Act note is somewhat alarming, given the authoritarian provisions in the law, but we simply do not know what Trump's position will be on this issue yet given his inexperience.
ReplyDeleteI think that people who didn't think he was being serious will be disappointed, but not surprised. Trump is erratic and cannot be predicted, so they will not be surprised that he stuck to it after backing off. However, it is clear that, if nothing else, the wall will not be built. It is simply too difficult and too expensive to be constructed, and there is no possible way that we can "get the Mexicans to pay for it". It just simply will not be able to pass. I do not think the public will react to the mention of the Patriot Act, simply because some opponents of it would be happy if it was implicated against immigrants, and because we do not truly know what he will do with it yet. I believe, however, that these ideas, while not backtracked yet, will be when passed through the legislative branch, because they are simply to extreme to win the majority in both houses of congress. However, I can't put anything past Trump, since he is just so unpredictable. I can only hope these policies do not come into fruition, because extreme vetting and walls and mass deportations are simply not good for our country.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised. I figured that he would continue to push for the wall quietly to "save face" or appear more sane to the public. That said, I really don't think that this will go through. This "rapid build" of the wall is unlikely because Mexico won't pay for it. I don't think there will be a ton of responses regarding that Patriot Act because it was only mentioned on the document. The plans are still under wraps so I'm not sure that it will drum up controversy. The video on the article is interesting because it talks about self-deportation which I agree with. If immigrants "jumped the line" and came here illegally, we shouldn't spend money on deporting them. Instead, we should just let them face the consequences and make it clear that business owners cannot hire illegal immigrants so that they realize they can't get jobs and leave on their own accord. I understand that this could come with consequences regarding businesses underpaying and immigrants accepting that to stay in this country. However, I think that self deportation is a better idea than spending money on building a wall, wasting time on tracking, or cracking down on illegal immigrants who already live here peacefully.
ReplyDeleteI don't find this surprising in the slightest; aren't these the same ideals that Trump held as he campaigned? I am, like most, both upset and baffled of the inclusion of the Patriot Act in these documents. Let us remember that Trump is not yet president; the plans he has are not approved of and not entirely known. We already know that we can't trust everything that comes out of the mouthes of Trump and his supporters.
ReplyDeleteTrump's victory was immediately followed by his retraction of many of his core campaign policies. I can't say I'm surprised he did this: his extreme policies sounded much less scary when he didn't hold the position of the most powerful man on earth. Now that he does, he has to tone it back a bit. However, this development hints that Trump is involved in some sort of double reversal with his policies. As others have said, this doesn't surprise me given how unpredictable he is. That said, the extent to which he pursues these policies is not going to be as extreme as this picture might show for a couple of reasons. One being the wall costs money. And for someone who doesn't want to raise the debt ceiling and wants to cut government spending, where will he get that money? Certainly not Mexico. I think Trump would have a difficult time passing some of the other extreme components of his immigration reform as well, especially the "extreme vetting" part. I just have a feeling that won't go over well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ian in that I am not suprisesd he is still talking about the wall. Although after his victory he took a much lighter stance on most issues he previously hadn't, the wall was a pillar of his campaign. Many of his supporters who got him into office were diehard fans of the idea of a wall, and since he seems to be abandoning many policies that will help these people, he probably has kept the wall in his plans to appeal to these same people.
ReplyDeleteIf this is actually what he wants to happen and if these papers are proof positive, then this a slap in the face for anyone who didn't want Trump. I can't believe that they want to reinstall a tracking system that didn't turn anything up the first they used it. Even though I am supposed to say something about the Patriot Act I can't. It's scary. Hopefully these ideas are too extreme and I had the same idea that Jay had about how they want to cut spending but build a wall at the same time, but I can't tell what's going to happen anymore. I'm just sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with others who have said they are not surprised that Trump is still focused on toughening the US's immigration policies. However, I believe that it will not be as extreme as what he has stated before. For example, I don't think that he will actually build a complete wall. In an interview with 60 Minutes, he even said a fence would be acceptable at some places. The US just doesn't have the money, and Mexico is certainly not paying for it. Trumps is just so unpredictable right now that I don't think we'll know any of his plans until he's sworn in. Even after he is, I doubt that he will follow through with all of his plans. Congress, although Republican, may not side with him on all of his extreme reforms.
ReplyDeleteTrump is not going to build a wall.
ReplyDeleteIt's too expensive. It's too undoable. It's just not possible, or practical, or reasonable. Throughout this campaign he said things that were lenient and was harassed for it. But guess what? He won. You've all allowed him to act the way he wants. And Donald trump was once a staunch democrat, I see no reason he wouldn't just start supporting liberal legislation because he doesn't even know what a conservative is.
But back to the wall. If he builds it, the taxes are crushing (not to mention the aggravation to our allies to the south (you're absolutely right John should've shot him in the mouth!)). If he doesn't build this stupid wall, his supporters will riot. He's really between a rock and a hard place now. And I hope it crushes him. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This is really sad to me. "Reduce the intake of Syrian refugees to 0." It's hard to watch the refugees be discriminated against. This reminds me too much of the antisemitism that lead many countries to not to accept Jews in their time of distress. Even the US rejected many Jewish immigrants when they needed it most. I hate to see history repeat itself, and I understand the that there is a threat of terrorism, but we should be a safe haven for the lost and weak.
ReplyDeleteAs for the wall, its pretty ridiculous. If it does end up being built, then fine, whatever. I really don't think that the wall will change much. Many of the illegal immigrants in the US are people with expired visas, and a wall won't help with that.
No doubt people will be upset over this. But you have to put the blame on them for giving Trump a pass for every ridiculous proposal he has. You must take everything a politician, let alone the president, at face value. I do not, however, believe the wall will ever be built. It is simply not practical and a waste of American money. All it would do would is give something the alt-right to be proud of. But many Republicans will not get behind that kind of spending. They will get behind deportation of immigrants though.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that those who didn't think Trump was serious will be worried (though many of them are probably in betting pools for when his impeachment will be, so they might be more worried in what he can accomplish until then). However, Trump has been known to be less consistent than a random word generator, so we won't know unless it happens or doesn't. Of course, his actions will only phase those who were already affected by it; those who weren't unnerved by it before certainly won't be affected by it now and are unlikely to be affected by it anytime soon. What this does make me wonder, though, is how many photos might Trump publish himself with confidential information? And what may he post about himself? How at risk could our nation's confidential information be with such a socially active president?
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