Now that the Democrats have won control of the House of Representatives (barely) it appears a near-certainty that President Trump will be unable to get anything done in Congress on immigration ...
Of course, he wasn’t able to get any of that in the last two years, either, even though Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. The Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) – almost all of whom were defeated by Democrats Tuesday – blocked everything as surely as the Democrats will. ...
At least, now, Trump can blame inaction on Democrats. He and congressional candidates across the country can run in two years on immigration, which Trump knows is a winning issue for him....
But in the meantime, he doesn’t need Congress to achieve just that result. And losing half of Congress should bring that remarkable legal fact into focus.
Remember the travel cases? At issue was whether Trump had the power to issue his Proclamation suspending the entry of aliens from several Muslim-majority countries. The Supreme Court held that he did have that power – a federal law clearly gave him authority to suspend the entry of any class of aliens, or even all aliens, into the country if he deemed doing so in the “national interest.” At most, Trump would need a rational basis for his restrictions – but the Court didn’t even find (as opposed to assume for the sake of argument) that he needed that.
In other words, the Supreme Court, in Trump v. Hawaii, crowned Donald Trump the immigration-restriction czar....
All by himself, Trump can bar any group of aliens he wants from entering the country, as long as he rationally believes that doing so is in the national interest. He can bar all those who lack a certain level of skills, or education, to protect the jobs and wages of the most vulnerable Americans. He can bar all those who do not have a job lined up in this country that cannot be filled by an American. He can bar all those likely to receive public assistance (in fact, he is already doing that, not by proclamation, but by regulation).
He can also build the wall – not by issuing a proclamation as immigration-restriction czar, but by declaring the
border in a state of emergency (as he has done) and bringing in the U.S. Army to build it.
Christopher J. Hajec is director of litigation at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.
Related
For Trump, Danger And Opportunity At The Critical Moment Of His Presidency, James Kirkpatrick, VDare, November 21, 2018:
... He now has the united support of the Republican Party, absent a few renegades who exist more as bodyless Main Stream Media talking heads than real political leaders. So, even more than when Trump was a candidate, he has real freedom of action. The Congressional GOP has no choice but to follow him, because the base is with him....
To survive, President Trump needs to go full populist. Though it will infuriate some “Movement Conservatives,” this could mean tacking left on infrastructure and health care....
But overwhelmingly more important: immigration. Trump absolutely must follow through on the specific proposals he made during the closing days of the midterm campaign....
Most vital: an executive order on Birthright Citizenship. ...
Needless to say, the lame-duck Republican Congress is showing little willingness to fight for wall funding, even as the migrant caravan dominates the headlines. ...
This is not an issue that President Trump can or should compromise on. He has sufficient support within his party and among the public for a shutdown. More importantly, “The Wall” is his signature promise—a wall that he said “must be built quickly.”
If the wall is not built in two years, there is no reason for him to even run for re-election in 2020: he will be laughed off the stage. ...
