Not every Republican is sold on Donald Trump.
He’s trying to follow through on his campaign promises.
But one powerful Republican just publicly undermined him.
Donald Trump is trying to make it clear to the American public that he’s not an extremist on the immigration issue, and that his main focus is on deporting serious criminals.
One way he is sending that message is by pledging to work with Democrats to find an accommodation for “Dreamers” – people who were illegally brought into the U.S. as children.
These are people who never consciously made a decision to break the law and because of that Trump does not view them as being culpable for what happened.
He wants to work with Democrats to find a way to allow them to stay and give them legal recognition.
John Thune, the new Senate Majority Leader, apparently agrees with Trump on the issue, but made some comments that he’s skeptical whether Trump will be able to get it done.
According to NBC News, “When asked about Trump’s remarks, leading Senate Republicans didn’t close the door to a deal — but they did sound a note of skepticism about the prospects.”
“We’ll see,” Thune responded.
“The sweet spot on immigration reform has eluded us a number of times. But obviously if there is a bipartisan willingness to take on that issue, then I’m certainly open to what we can do. It’d be better long term if we could come up with some legislative solutions, but in the last few administrations, everything’s been done by executive action. So it’s going to take something to break that logjam,” said Thune.
The article continues, “As president in 2017, he sought to end the DACA program that protected undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children from deportation. And in 2018, when Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Angus King, I-Maine, cut a bipartisan deal to give Dreamers legal status while giving Trump money for his border wall, Trump’s White House successfully fought to kill the deal because it didn’t also curtail family-based immigration.”
The fact that Trump hasn’t always held this position doesn’t mean anything.
It seems he’s come to the conclusion that the government needs to do more to deport criminals, while being easier on the children.
It’s a reasonable viewpoint that probably matches how most Americans feel about the issue.
Thune should help Trump get this done instead of talking about why he doesn’t think Trump will be able to pull it off.