Immigration
has been one of President Trump’s primary issues since the beginning of his
presidential campaign. How effective has the President’s messaging been in
regards to immigration issues? How does his rhetoric appeal to his base? How have
those who oppose his stance responded? Do you expect immigration to continue to
be a major issue leading up to the 2020 presidential elections? Be sure to cite
at least two of this week’s readings in your response.
One of Donald Trump’s biggest issues during his presidency is his stance on immigration. Even if you are not a follower of his, everyone knows how he feels about it. Before he was even elected president he made it clear that the United States welcomes immigrants as long as they come in legally. He feels that is unfair for some people to enter illegally when others are doing it the right way and have been waiting years to enter the country. Trump wants to build a wall around the borders of the United States to prevent people from trying to get in. Donald Trump’s messages are effective only to his supporters. His crazy rants about building the wall around the border and keeping illegal immigrants out makes his supporters fired up and energetic. His energy appeals to his fan base. At many of Donald Trump’s rallies, people can be heard chanting “build that wall”. The Democrats however, feel differently. According to the Pew Research Center, 69% of Democrats feel sympathetic toward immigrants who are in the United States illegally (Pew Research Center). Many Americans are upset with the fact that children are being separated from their families when they get to the border seeking asylum. According to a Yahoo News article, “When it comes to children, immigration detention is never appropriate under human rights law,” Long said in an email to HuffPost. “The detention of asylum seekers should be avoided apart from short periods necessary for screening” (Visser). When Trump discusses the issues of immigration, he does not always have his facts straight. He makes statements that are false and that attack Democrats. The same article states “Trump on Monday once again made baseless claims to Ingraham that many in the caravan were “bad people,” some of whom he said were “in gangs.” He’s repeated such refrains at campaign rallies in recent weeks, attacking his Democratic opponents as the “party of crime” and of open borders” (Visser). The United States is taking longer to grant asylum to people than ever before. I definitely expect immigration to continue to be a major issue in the 2020 presidential election. It has become such a public problem and Americans have seen children being taken away from their families and sent to detention camps basically. I suspect their will be many discussions on how to properly deal with families that come to the border. Trump also created a travel ban earlier in the year preventing people from certain countries form entering the United States. There has been backlash of these new rules and regulations. Many people believe that the process to apply for asylum should be quicker and easier. Trump’s reason for wanting such strict immigration laws makes sense to some people because they feel they are a danger to America and also can take jobs away. However, the Democrats feel that these people fear for their lives back home and come to the country willing to work. Trump does not go about addressing this issue in the right way. He chants negative things and makes decisions based on his emotions. In the days leading up to the 2018 midterm elections, Republicans were airing ads saying that Democrats want open borders. The ads contain scary images of gangs. Trump referred to the Central American Asylum Seekers as “an invasion” (Kiely, Gore and Farley). The problem at the border ha turned Americans against each other and parties against each other with no solution. This problem will not be going away any time soon.
ReplyDeleteWorks Cited:
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018.
Visse, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
Kiely, Eugne, et al. "Republican Closing Ads - Immigration." FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018.
DiSalvo 1
ReplyDeleteTrump’s victory in 2016 can arguably be accredited to the anger he was able to ignite surrounding illegal immigration. Never before had a candidate made obliterating illegal immigration the nucleus of his campaign. Trump did, and in doing so he managed to gather a coalition of Americans angry with their lives and eager for someone to blame. Trump was the first candidate to offer them a scapegoat for their economic and social problems. While many Americans may have felt that foreigners were taking their jobs in the past, no one was comfortable publicly casting the blame on the immigrants before Trump. After he made this vast generalization “acceptable,”he conjured support from a group previously untapped by mainstream politicians. These so-called “forgotten” Americans longed to bring back the “America they used to know,” which involved breaking down the barriers of political correctness required when talking about immigration.
Trump’s messaging has been extremely successful and motivational for a significant percentage of the American population. This group composes Trump’s core base一those who believe everything he says, follow him unconditionally, and chant “build that wall” at his rallies. But surprisingly, this messaging was also successful for more mainstream Americans. In fact, as of 2015 only 57 percent of Republicans would agree that undocumented immigrants do not take American jobs (“Shifting Public Views…”). As a result, one can assume that a large proportion of Republicans actually believes that immigrants are responsible for taking jobs from American citizens. Throughout his campaign, Trump expanded the perceived threat of illegal immigration to include gang violence, crime, and disease.
In my opinion, Trump’s immigration strategy is racism in disguise. He has successfully tapped into the darkest corners of American hearts. According The American Conservative, “Tribalism has always been one of the strongest of human genetic traits. In a more dangerous past, men felt safest among their own, first family, then clan” (Utley). Trump has rekindled American's natural preference for their own tribe by framing immigrants and dangerous invaders, out to spread disease and steal the jobs from hard-working Americans. Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again” stems directly from his immigration policy because it appeals to Americans seeking to redeem America’s past, before the definition of what an American looks like changed. Some would say Trump’s slogan, Make America Great Again, is just “Make America White Again” (Phillips) in disguise.
DiSalvo 2
DeleteThose who oppose Trump’s stance rally around immigrants and respond to Trump with outrage and criticism. When Trump made a comment about Mexicans being rapists, bipartisan condemnation ensued. When Trump passed executive orders resulting in the separation of families, media outlets such as MSNBC investigated the scope of the situation and exposed the true impacts of the new policy to incite empathy and outrage in the American people. This created a strong front of opposition to Trump’s policy. As executive director of Connecticut Students for a Dream Lucas Codognolla said, “Our job, through sharing our stories, is to humanize the issue and combat that fear with stories of hope and stories that show we’re contributing to the economy. We want the country to be great for everybody. We’re the same as everyone”(Radelat).
As we head towards 2020, it is important to realize that Trump’s strong, right-wing immigration policy will continue to make headlines. It is the one issue on which Trump has a platform and a tangible plan for. “Build a wall,” while expensive and impractical is a rallying cry that unites his base. In the final push for the 2018 midterms, Trump incorporated the idea of the caravans into all of his rallies to instill fear in the American people and to use this fear to send them to the polls. Trump is unable to create this excitement in any other way. He doesn’t know enough about foreign policy. His promises to farmers and steel workers are falling short. But he has a scapegoat for the problems of frustrated Americans, even if it’s illegitimate. Trump has instilled a sense of fear in his base. Fear is an effective tool in the hands of politicians to gain power and influence.
Works Cited
Phillip, Steve. "Trump Wants to make America White again." The New York Times, 15 February 2018, 2018.
Radelat, Ana. "A Connecticut ‘dreamer,’ Committed to the Fight, Will Not Return to the Shadows.", 10 September, 2017.
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 2018.
Utley, Jon B. "how to Resolve the Conservative Split Over Immigration.", 20 June, 2018.
Since the beginning of President Trump’s pursuit of the White House, immigration has been a constant topic of conversation, mainly because of his aggressive stance on the issue. From 2014 on, Trump has stood his ground on the topic, maintaining that legal immigration should be slowed, and all illegal immigrants should be detained. This rather radical approach was applied to a current immigration issue, the caravan headed towards U.S. borders, and Trump’s response sums up exactly how he feels: “[Trump] planned to put any members of the migrant caravan who apply for asylum into new ‘tent cities’ that would be ‘all over the place,’ sharpening his recent efforts to politicize the southern border ahead of next month’s midterm elections,” (Visser 2018). He’s standing pat on immigration, and continues to make waves with his stance on it.
ReplyDeletePresident Trump has taken a completely new approach to dealing with the messaging surrounding immigration. He’s strayed away from political correctness, as is typical, and delivers his policy in a manner with which the average conservative American can identify. His messaging has been extremely polarizing, and because of that, it hasn’t been overly effective. Trump’s base has rallied around the “Build A Wall” campaign and his no-nonsense approach to dealing with background checks and the process of becoming an American. That being said, most moderates and liberals disagree with the policies that Trump is presenting, and his crass delivery has further alienated them from agreeing with this administration. Critics have responded, and they’ve responded loudly, and they’ve responded often. They’ve highlighted the treatment of parents and families at detainment centers, and as Trump digs his heels in further, the opposition continues to push back.
Because of how polarizing this issue has become, I believe it’s going to be a hot-button topic issue in the upcoming 2020 election. The Democratic candidate that opposes Donald Trump will make sure that they establish their policy on immigration in an attempt to gain the support of the liberals and moderates that disagree with his policies. If a candidate is able to do this well, they’ll capitalize on an American population that is continuing to grow in favor of legal immigration: “Since 2001, the share of Americans who favor increased legal immigration into the U.S. has risen 22 percentage points (from 10% to 32%), while the share who support a decrease has declined 29 points (from 53% to 24%),” (Dunn 2018). There is a large population of people who, given the right screening process, are in favor of legal immigration. As Trump continues to oppose it, a future Democratic candidate will be able to take the country by storm with a more progressive view, and a more progressive way of spreading their message.
Works Cited
DeleteDunn, Amina. “Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 16 Oct. 2018, www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/.
Visser, Nick. “Trump Says He'll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In 'Tent Cities'.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 30 Oct. 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html.
Kevin G. Slattery
ReplyDeleteProfessor Lisa Burns
Strategic Communication in the Trump Era
11 November 2018
Blog Post # 10
Since being elected as President of the United States, Donald Trump has made the immigration discussion a central theme in his presidential policy. Despite immigration being a central theme to his campaign and presidency, Trump has not been effective at messaging his opinions on immigration. His poor messaging has prevented his stances from gaining traction among more members of the U.S. Congress as well as broader appeal among the American populace. It is important for Donald Trump to be able to appeal to those beyond his base with regards to his stances on immigration. For example, 67% of Americans say they do not view granting legal status to immigrants in the U.S. illegally as a reward (Pew Research Center 1). Only 27% of Americans feel granting legal status to immigrants in the U.S. illegally is a reward (Pew Research Center 1). This data highlights how Americans’ views on immigration are divergent from Donald Trump’s views on immigration. President Trump has called for measures that run counter to how most Americans feel such as repealing DACA or building a wall on the Southern border of the U.S.
Despite the President’s inability to appeal to a broader political audience, Trump is in fact very effective at appealing to his core political base. He is able to appeal to his base when he makes statements such as saying Central American asylum seekers are “an invasion” (Kiely, Gore, and Farley 1). He was also able to appeal to his base by saying he will sign an executive order ending birthright while also drawing criticism from constitutional scholars who questioned the legality of such a law (Kiely, Gore, and Farley 1). Many Republicans have seen how effective Trump’s messaging with his base has been and have decided to incorporate it into their campaigns. For example, TV ads in Arkansas’ 2nd congressional district had falsely accused Democratic candidate Clarke Tucker of wanting to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Kiely, Gore, and Farley 1). The TV ads also criticize other Democrats in Congress such as Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer while discussing gangs like MS-13 in America (Kiely, Gore, and Farley 1). The ad falsely insinuates these Democrats want to abolish ICE and connects this desire with the imminent danger gangs such as MS-13 pose to American citizens (Kiely, Gore, and Farley 1). Many Republican are using ads like these to ride Donald Trump’s coattails in order to establish a following from his base.
In response to the stances on immigration taken by Trump and other Republicans, those who oppose these stances have actively taken direct action. For example, a federal appeals court on November 8th this year upheld a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke deportation protections for 700,000 immigrants protected by DACA (Dickerson 1). The President’s stance has drawn a lot of protests and criticism from advocates of the DACA program. As America inches closer to the 2020 Presidential election, immigration and the issues surrounding it will become more important. Republicans will continue to talk about immigration with importance and Democrats will not shy away from discussing what they believe is wrong with Republican policies about immigration.
Works Cited
Dickerson, Caitlin. “'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.” NewYorkTimes.com, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html.
“Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018, www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/.
Kiely, Eugene, et al. “Republican Closing Ads: Immigration.” FactCheck.org, FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018, www.factcheck.org/2018/11/republican-closing-ads-immigration/.
Immigration has evolved into one of the most controversial issues in the country today. It seems as though it has completely become a partisan issue, although both sides agree it is a staple of American culture and history. President Trump, since the very beginning of his campaign, used extreme rhetoric when referring to those he considered to be American, versus not. He uses words like illegal alien, and began the idea of a building a wall around the country, still a very popular one among conservatives today. His messaging has been extremely effective for his audience, especially with regards to his promises over “the wall”. President Trump over the course of his presidency has consistently tried to rid immigrants of rights, specifically the DREAMers. According to a NY Times article, “[the] federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke deportation protections for some 700,000 young “Dreamers” who were brought into the United States illegally as children,” (Dickerson). President Trump’s rhetoric consistently appeals to his base and audience for several reason, one being that he is just that: consistent. His messaging is simple, extreme, and it doesn’t change, therefore making it an easy chant for his audience. In addition to this, his rhetoric appeals to his base in that it is unpolished in nature, so they believe there is no “other side” to Trump, and it is powerful.
ReplyDeleteThose who oppose the President’s stance, are against his stance that although we need people in the country, they must come legally. They feel he has abandoned some 12 million illegal immigrants who need assistance in the country, specifically the public is against his stance regarding the DREAMers. Recently in an article from Yahoo!, the Trump Administration has begun the … “latest push to enforce a hardline stance on immigration through regulatory changes and presidential orders, bypassing Congress, which has not passed any immigration law reform. But those efforts have been largely thwarted by legal challenges and, in the case of family separations this year, stymied by a global outcry that prompted Trump to retreat,” (Long). In other words, Trump has consistently made efforts to crack down on immigration, with a reluctant congress not following in support completely.
Due to the nature of the current political climate, and the polarization of issues as a result, I definitely expect this issue to continue to be a major one leading up to the presidential election. Many people have now taken extreme views on the issue, and it will be interesting to see if a successful moderate can emerge surrounding this issue. Ultimately though, I would say the focus of the 2020 election depends on the political environment at the time, for example if another shooting occurs close to the election, the focus will most likely be gun reform/2nd amendment rights.
References:
DeleteDickerson, C. (2018, November 08). 'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.
Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html
Long, C. (2018, November 10). Trump moves to limit asylum; new rules challenged in court.
Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-immigration-officials-move-restrict-asylum-border-055150535--politics.html
President Trump is extremely effective in his messaging when it comes to immigration. Build a wall was a staple of his campaign and was one of the most important parts of his platform. It was easy for Trump to tap into the fears his supporters already had about immigrants. In the past, Republicans used coded language to talk about undocumented immigrants and instill fear. Trump was able to intensify that fear by naming it flat out and villainize an entire group of people. Even though Trump has done very little to deliver on his campaign promises, he has still been able to capitalize on his rhetoric. The President has really been able to unify his supporters on this issue, which has created opportunities for other Republicans to capitalize on the divide. We saw this in the various ads that came out right before the midterms starting with Trump’s ad. What I found most interesting was that Trump said, “It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now!” (Trump, 2018). Trump tied himself to all Republicans, which I thought would lead to more Republican candidates rebuking the ads, but many of them jumped on the bandwagon and created their own ads.
ReplyDeletePeople who oppose Trump on issues of immigration have had to take major steps backward. Having to go back and justify the validity of DACA has created panic for people who had previously felt more secure. The fight for more asylum and increased immigration had to be put on hold to keep the immigrants we already have now. And I think the most challenging part to opposing Trump on this policy is that you cannot appeal to morality. If a person cannot see why there is a problem keeping children in cages and separating families then I’m not sure how you can have a productive conversation. It’s getting harder to fight against his administration and supports because they truly believe that some people are less than, and it is exhausting trying to change their minds.
“Since 2001, the share of Americans who favor increased legal immigration into the U.S. has risen 22 percentage points (from 10% to 32%), while the share who support a decrease has declined 29 points (from 53% to 24%),” according to Pew Research. I think as we move into the 2020 election we are going to see immigration used as an issue to polarize people. With so much misinformation about immigration, politicians on the right tend to demonize immigrants for the benefit of firing up their base. We have seen Trump do this with the caravan leading up to the midterms and now we are hearing very little from the White House even as the group gets closer. Nick Visser said, “Critics have accused the White House of using the U.S. military to rally voters ahead of the midterms, especially since Republicans face a tough battle to retain control of the House of Representatives,” in his piece for Yahoo News. Based on the reactions from his base I would not be surprised if Trump continued to use immigration in his platform.
Works Cited:
Dunn, A. (2018, October 16). Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/
@realdonaldtrump. (2018, October 31). Donald J. Trump. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057728445386539008
Visser, N. (2018, October 29). Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities’. Yahoo News. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html
Immigration has been a huge part of President Trump’s agenda because a large part of his campaign was based on the theme of promoting national security. However, Trump’s talking points about immigration have not produced any real ideas about potential policy. Instead, he has made strides toward alienating immigrants by fear-mongering. Trump’s rhetoric appeals to his base because he has depicted illegal immigrants as criminals, rapists, and drug and human traffickers. Consequently, his supporters now feel as if it is their duty to protect their communities and homes from this danger. Trump’s messaging has been effective because he has successfully broadcasted his twisted image of what is going on at the border on Twitter, and since very few of his supporters actually live at the border people are inclined to believe him. He exploited this notion just nights before the midterm elections in order to halt the incoming “blue wave”. He tweeted out an ad that his campaign broadcasted about Luis Bracamontes, an illegal immigrant who killed police officers and said he intends to kill again (Trump 2018). Trump piggy-backed off of this one case, as well as the massive caravan of migrants moving north in Central America, to depict all illegal immigrants as dangerous, and to claim that Democrats are open to letting them into the country. With his slogan “make America safe again”, President Trump has convinced his supporters that it is an important issue and that he is the one who can follow through with a solution.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip-side, Democrats have taken a more realistic humanitarian approach to the issue of illegal immigration. Trump’s opposition is taking a stance on implementing an all-encompassing system to help legalize illegal immigrants, and is open to finding ways to streamline the immigration process. Democrats have taken activist roles by publicly debunking Trump’s claims about what is going on at the border and working across the aisle to come to a compromise for a bill that could survive. As a generalization, most Democrats see the human side of this issue and are more for advocating for human rights rather than detaining people at the border. Georgia governor candidate Stacey Abrams echoed this stance by saying at one of her rallies, “Blue waves aren’t blue. That’s what we use because that’s the color that we embrace… It is made up of those who’ve been told that they are not worthy of being here. It is comprised of those who are documented and undocumented. It’s made up of those who have been told they are successful and those who have been told they are left behind. But the real wave is when we come together and we tell Georgia, ‘We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.’” (Kiely, Gore and Farley 2018). America was once known as a melting pot for a multitude of cultures, and Democrats want to hang onto that instead of agreeing with Trump’s calls to become a nation that subscribes to tribalism.
I personally believe that immigration will still be a huge talking point for any federal candidate in 2020, but it will not be as important or prevalent in the news cycle as it is right now. Trump has created national hysteria about a caravan of people that are two months away from the border. It was sensationalized by President Trump’s administration in order to gain more red votes during the midterm election, and the boy can only cry wolf so many times before people become fed up and move on to another issue.
Works Cited
DeleteKiely, Eugene, et al. “Republican Closing Ads: Immigration.” FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018, www.factcheck.org/2018/11/republican-closing-ads-immigration/.
Trump, Donald J. “It Is Outrageous What the Democrats Are Doing to Our Country. Vote Republican Now! Https://T.co/0pWiwCHGbh Pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G.” Twitter, Twitter, 31 Oct. 2018, twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057728445386539008.
Sophia Toppo
ReplyDeleteBlog 10
Through out his campaign, Trumps opinions on immigration laws have been a constant talking point. He is so passionate about decreasing the amount of immigrants coming to the USA that he constantly expresses to the people how he is going to build a wall. The whole point of Trumps campaign was to “Make America Great Again” and he wants to be known as the president who actually gets things done in a bigger and better way than previous presidents. He constantly expressed that he was going to build this huge wall to prevent illegal’s from entering the USA and this sparked the interest of many supporters. While many people thought this was ridiculous and never going to happen, Trump supporters loved this idea and thought this was a great idea to prevent illegal immigrants. With all of the news about the caravans carrying illegal immigrants to the border, he constantly explains how these people are bad people and his plans to deal with this is to, “…order the construction of tent cities that’d be “very nice.” But he said he wouldn’t spend “hundreds of millions of dollars” on “structures” to house anyone detained while awaiting the outcome of an asylum application”(Visse, 1). He does not plan on letting these people across the border, but he will keep them detained in these tents and then send them back to where they came from. Trump is set in his ways about immigration. Many people disagree over these ideas presented by Trump. According to studies by the Pew Research Center, “Currently, 40% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say that legal immigration into the U.S. should be increased, 39% say it should be kept at its present level and 16% say it should be decreased”(Pew Research Center, 1). On the other hand, “…a larger share of Republicans currently support decreasing (33%) rather than increasing (22%) legal immigration into the U.S. (39% say it should be kept at its present level)”(Pew Research Center, 1).
Those who oppose Trump’s opinions on illegal immigrants respond by criticizing him. They think that this idea to build a wall is ridiculous and he is just saying this for attention. People like to express the idea that America is a melting pot of different people and we should accept people into our country with open arms. Trump puts a stigma on immigrant workers and says how they are criminals and rapists, which is why he wants to prevent them from coming across the border. But people who oppose this idea are sympathetic of the immigrants and believe that they are not criminals and rapists.
DeleteI think that this will definitely continue to be an issue leading up to the 2020 election. Immigration has been talked about so much through out the years and the different opinions on the issue will lead to further debate. It all depends on how the matter will be handled in the future to see how the issue will then be addressed. Anything can happen in the upcoming years regarding immigration.
Works cited
Visse, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018.
Lindsey Guadagni
ReplyDeletePresident Donald Trump has made it clear what his views about immigration are. He ran a big part of his campaign on the idea of getting rid of illegal immigrants and anti-immigration. The message was very strong and effective to his voters and the Republican party. For example, President Trump tweeted an ad video with the caption “It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now! http://Vote.GOP”( Trump, 2018). This ad was attacking the democratic party for letting illegal immigrant Luis Bracamontes into our country. This ad shows Luis in court saying how he killed cops and does not regret it and he will go out and kill more once he is released. This ad itself was extremely effective because it opened the eyes to a growing problem in our nation. Another example of how much President Trump has done already on the issue of immigration is he spoke to fox news and stated “We’re catching; we’re not releasing,” Trump said in the interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “So if they want to come over, we’re not even doing that. We’re not letting them into this country. If they apply for asylum, we’re going to hold them until such time as their trial takes place.”(Visser, 2018). This shows how strongly President Trump feels about this issue and how popular this issue is among the American people. Lots of Democrats feel that President Trump has taken it too far because America is supposed to be a “melting pot” as some would say and that the idea of American is that people come to achieve the “American Dream” and President Trump is ruining the image of that. I think that immigration is going to be a huge issue leading up to and during the 2020 election because of the fact that President Trump won and that was one of his biggest if not biggest issue he talked about so clearly the American people care about this issue and want it fixed. I feel that considering President Trump made immigration such a popular issue and Trump made it a key policy in his campaign and then won the 2016 election that other candidates will have to discuss the issue and have a firm standpoint on the issue itself. Many Americans that agree or maybe even disagree with most of Trump’s policies do actually approve of his views on immigration. I feel that from now on, this issue that President Trump made more popular than ever will be discussed in many presidential elections and midterm campaigns to come. Although I do have a strong feeling some other issues will become just as important like gun control because of the fact that it is getting very two-sided and because of school shootings people feel so strongly about it. Another issue is gay marriage because of the strong LGBTQ community The legalization of marijuana because of millennials feeling strongly about that issue. Last but not least health care because of the fact that so many Americans live without health care. So yes, immigration will be popular, but I am not sure if it will be the most popular issue in the 2020 election. We will see..
Trump, Donald J. 2018. “It Is Outrageous What the Democrats Are Doing to Our Country. Vote Republican Now! Https://T.co/0pWiwCHGbh Pic.twitter.com/2crea9HF7G.” Twitter. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057728445386539008 (November 12, 2018).
Visser, Nick. 2018. “Trump Says He'll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In 'Tent Cities'.” Yahoo! News. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html (November 13, 2018).
Since the beginning of the 2016 Presidential Campaign Trump’s comments and stances on immigration have consistently made him national and international headlines. Some of his earliest stuff I can remember is his ‘We’re gonna build that wall’ routine. He would regularly call and response this at his rallies, electrifying his base supporters and usually infuriating his opponents. Trump has aligned himself with his hard line conservative supporters. A sizeable portion of Trump’s campaign was built around a rhetoric of deporting illegal immigrants and preventing illegal immigrants from entering the country. His comments seem to be effective because they generate support from his base, which is largely anti-immigration, and anti-refugee. The people who support Trump will generally stand behind his comments and endorse his wall, while we see his adversaries acting in direct opposition.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side of the coin we see people and politicians working together in an effort to stop Trump from preventing immigrants and asylum seekers from entering the country. The president has made it somewhat clear that he does not support DACA and the dreamers. One dreamers believe he can see right through him “So, when the president came out and bent to conservative extremist demands to end the program, for me I just thought he was furthering an agenda based on hate, xenophobia and racism, (Radelat). People who oppose Trump often call him a racist and say he only works to the benefit of a few white Americans. Some judges and politicians are working to thwart Trump’s policies “In July, a federal judge barred the Trump administration from issuing blanket detention of asylum seekers and ordered they be freed while their applications were pending as long as individuals weren’t a flight risk or didn’t pose a threat to national security, (Visse). While the president does have wide spread support, there is a reasonably sized population working to challenge his agenda. With Trump, people either rally behind his ideals, or they work hard to fight against them. While the federal government and the president may not be doing much for immigrants and refugees at this time, many private interest groups and nonprofits are working their hardest to pick up the slack.
Immigration is one of the hot issues of this presidency. I think we will see this theme continue into the next presidential election and candidacy. Likely, politicians will run directly against Trump, opposing his stances on immigration, or we will see politicians continue to place strict policies and regulations on immigration. Whether or not American politicians continue to be vocal about immigration, we live in a shocking reality “All of this is happening with a backdrop of the worst refugee crisis the world has ever seen,” with 23 million refugees worldwide, (Stannard). We will undoubtedly see immigration continue to play out in politics for many years to come.
Works Cited:
Stannard, Ed. "Register Person of the Year: Chris George, Leader in Refugee Resettlement." New Haven Register, 24 Dec. 2017.
Radelat, Ana. "A Connecticut ‘Dreamer,’ Committed to the Fight, Will Not Return to the Shadows." CT Mirror, 10 Sept. 2017.
Visse, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
President Trump has definitely been excellent at his messaging for immigration issues. Through his ideas on building a wall, the DREAM Act and more, Trump is not afraid to share his voice and opinions about immigration. For this reason, I think his messaging has been excellent. There really is no way to argue what Trump believes in for immigration because he has said his opinion multiple times through the media. Because Trump is very blunt about his immigration policies, I think that his rhetoric has appealed positively to his base. Trump’s base is mostly made up of extreme Republicans who ultimately believe in the same thing as Trump. This political group has always been against immigrants coming to this country which is why I think that his rhetoric about immigration cannot be anywhere near negative towards his base. Also, another thing to consider is that Trump’s base never argues with him. Whatever Trump says, they believe in. This creates a big line between Trump’s base and the rest of the nation because the other groups have no problem standing up to Trump.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the people who do oppose Trump’s ideas about immigration have repeatedly stood up to him. Ever since Trump brought up building a wall, immigration has been at the top of the most important news. Also, the people who have stood up to Trump about immigration has done it in a very respectful but powerful way. From dreamers to celebrities, many have made a stance on this topic to Trump. For example, a Connecticut dreamer, Lucas Codognolla, conducted an entire interview with the CT Mirror in order to share his story. Not only did Codognolla share his story, but he also made some jabs at the president. Besides stating that Trump acted through racism on immigration policies, he also stated how Trump is not completely factual in this topic. When Codognolla was asked if he thought Trump would regret his decision on this issue, Codognolla stated “So, you see he did not really have an understanding of how this program actually impacts people and how this program actually works” (Radelat). What this quote says to me is that, celebrity or not, people are not afraid to share their stories, and in my opinion, the people who oppose Trump’s ideas on immigration are battling it in the correct way. In other words, they allow Trump to make himself look weak while they shoot him down with factual evidence.
Moreover, because Trump has made immigration such a powerful topic throughout his candidacy, I think that this issue will be the most prominent in the 2020 election. In other words, I think that whoever runs in 2020 against Trump will be asked a variety of questions on immigration that could potentially alter their votes. Also, because of all the factual evidence showing what Trump is doing to immigrants, I think that this proof will also be shown a lot in the 2020 election. Whoever is running against him, might use his immigration policies against him. In my opinion, this statistic stated by Yahoo! says a lot about where the 2020 election will go for Trump and immigration. “The Migration Policy Institute found just 33 percent of asylum applications had been approved in the 2018 fiscal year, down from an average of 44 percent to 55 percent under President Barack Obama” (Visser). This explains to me that while Trump has only been in office for two years, his immigration policies have made a huge impact. For this reason, the 2020 election should be an interesting one for not only how it will run, but where immigration policies will go.
Works Cited
DeleteRadelat, Ana. “A Connecticut ‘dreamer,’ committed to the fight, will not return to the shadows” The CT Mirror, 10 September 2017. https://ctmirror.org/2017/09/10/a-connecticut-dreamer-says-he-wont-give-up-the-fight/. Accessed 12 November 2018.
Visser, Nick. “Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities’” Yahoo! News, 29 October 2018. https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html. Accessed 12 November 2018.
Blog #10
ReplyDeleteImmigration has been and will continue to be one of President Trump’s primary key issues. From the moment that Trump announced his 2016 presidential run, he stated that there were problems with illegal immigration and the immigrant’s connection to Mexican drug cartels. Trump’s exact words were, “When Mexico sends over its people, they’re not sending over there best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Obviously, these comments kicked off his presidential campaign with controversy, and began a whole new conversation with regards to immigration.
Trump doubled down on his rhetoric, and began presenting the idea for a border wall, separating the United States from Mexico. Building this wall became Trump’s main focal point as a solution to the immigration problem at the southern border. The wall became such a primary speaking point; supporters could be heard chanting “Build the wall” at nearly every campaign rally.
The issue of immigration touched home with Trump’s base because he was able to convince the “forgotten Americans” that the previous administration was allowing anybody to come into the country and take jobs. As previously stated, the “forgotten Americans” refers to predominantly white, rural-living, factory workers. Most of whom have been laid off due to technological advances in their industry. Trump managed to convey immigrants as a scapegoat to this demographic. Claiming that immigrants “pouring” into the country was one of the primary reasons as to why America was no longer great. This message resonated with Trump’s base because many of them believed that cheap-waged illegal workers were the reason that they were being laid off.
Fast forward to 2018, and immigration is still one of the most prominent issues currently facing our country. A caravan of thousands of immigrants is currently marching toward the American southern border with no intention of turning back. President Trump has made it clear that he will not let them into the country, and has even referred to the group of immigrants as an “invasion.” Another prominent immigration issue facing Trump has been how to handle DACA. Democrats have opposed the Trump administration’s efforts to deport individuals with dreamer status in this country. Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times reported, “A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke deportation protections for some 700,000 young “Dreamers” who were brought into the United States illegally as children.”
Individuals who have opposed the president’s positions on immigration have been extremely vocal. Protests frequently occur throughout the country in response to Trump’s comments and policies over immigration. Some people have even taken matters into their own hands, and have been impacted by the current admninistration’s recent shifts in policy. Ed Stannard of the New Haven Register reported, “In more than 12 years of welcoming refugees to new homes in Connecticut, Chris George and his staff at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services have never had to navigate a more difficult course than they did in 2017.” Trump’s new policies have impacted immigration groups in different ways, but primarily by putting tons of new restrictions on them.
Immigration will continue to be a prominent issue in the 2020 Presidential election. The Democratic candidate will have to fire up their base over immigration, much like how Trump did with his. This is not a new issue that President Trump has created. Immigration has been an issue for decades, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteStannard, Ed. “Register Person of the Year: Chris George, Leader in Refugee Resettlement.” New Haven Register, New Haven Register, 24 Dec. 2017, www.nhregister.com/news/article/Register-Person-of-the-Year-Chris-George-leader-12453322.php.
Dickerson, Caitlin. “'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html.
Immigration has always been one of President Trump’s biggest issues since the very beginning of his presidency, and a very significant part of his platform. President Trump’s aggressive and hardline stance on the topic starts with how he believes that all illegal immigrants should be detained and that a wall needs to be built around the country to tighten the border, which was a very dominant part of his presidential campaign to begin with. In the article “Trump Limits Asylum, Says People Must ‘Come in Legally’”, Trump says “We need people in our country but they have to come in legally and they have to have merit” (Longs, 2018).
ReplyDeletePresident Trump’s messaging on the issue of immigration has been extremely effective. According to Pew Research, “While there has been considerable attention on illegal immigration into the US. Recently, opinions about legal immigration have undergone a long-term change. Support for increasing the level of legal immigration has risen, while the share saying legal immigration should decrease has fallen.” Since Trump has an army of loyal supporters, the President has successfully been able to unify his supporters on the issue of immigration. In fact, his Republican supporters even made advertisements of their own. In the article “Republican Closing Ads: Immigration”, is says that in the final days of the 2018 election, “Republicans across the country are running TV ads about immigration that falsely accuse some Democrats of wanting ‘open borders’, plotting to ‘abolish ICE’, supporting ‘sanctuary cities’ and more” (Kiely, Gore and Farley, 2018). The Republicans are following the lead of President Trump, fully supporting his stance on illegal immigration. President Trump is so persistent about how he wants to decrease the number of illegal immigrants trying to get into the United States by ordering the U.S. military to guard the Southern border and insinuating that he will sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship (Kiely, Gore and Farley, 2018).
Those who oppose President Trump’s stance on illegal immigration issues highly criticize him and his ideas towards the topic. People think of the United States as a “melting pot” that consists of all different kinds of people that have always been welcomed with open arms into this country for decades. Immigrants have always been noted as people who are “coming in to take our jobs”, but President Trump has truly puts an emphasis on immigrant workers, associating them with terrible names such as criminals, aliens, rapists, etc. The specific people who oppose President Trump’s stance clearly see these people in a different light, thinking that they just want a chance at freedom, and becoming a “dreamer”, and a new start for their life in the United States.
I truly believe that immigration issues will still continue to be an issue when leading up to the 2020 presidential election. Immigration has always been a popular controversial issue in politics, but now more than ever with Donald Trump as our president, pushing his aggressive views on the topic on us repeatedly.
Works Cited:
Kiely, Eugne, et al. "Republican Closing Ads - Immigration." FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018.
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018.
Long, Colleen. "Trump Limits Asylum, Says People Must 'Come in Legally.'" Associated Press, 9 Nov. 2018.
Rick Lessard
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump made his stance clear on immigration back during the 2016 election, with the now infamous line of referring to immigrants as criminals. This is a tactic that he has repeated throughout his presidency, stating that immigrants are undesirables. The statements that the president makes seems to be unfounded and merely a tactic to rally the base. Nick Visser writes, “Trump on Monday once again made baseless claims to Ingraham that many in the caravan were “bad people,” some of whom he said were “in gangs.” He’s repeated such refrains at campaign rallies in recent weeks, attacking his Democratic opponents as the “party of crime” and of open borders.” (Visser) The statements rally the base, invoking a vision of a large group of criminals making their way to the boarder like a pillaging horde ready to destroy America. Donald Trump personally attacks the Democrats stating that they are trying to destroy America with immigration. Trump tweeted, “It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our Country. Vote Republican now! http://Vote.GOP” in an effort to undermine support for Democrats in the recent election. The tweet itself contained an anti-immigration ad that shows borderline racist tones towards immigrants, designed to scare people.
Donald Trump and his administration seem determined to destroy anything that the Obama administration has done. In 2012, the Obama administration created DACA for the thousand of children brought over by the parents and were living in the country. Caitlin Dickerson of the New York Times writes, “Mr. Trump has criticized the program, known as DACA, as an “amnesty-first approach,” and said that President Barack Obama had overstepped his authority by introducing it.” (Dickerson) In response, opponents of Trump’s stance on immigration, have only strengthen their resolve against it. Multiple judges have declared the executive orders in order to vet against asylum seeking immigrants. Which seemed to have galvanized Trump and his supporters. The same could be said for opponents. Chris George of IRIS, an organization that helps resettle immigrants in the country told the New Haven Register reporter Ed Stannard, “daily contact with amazing refugees that give me a shot of energy every day, and daily contact with supporters who walk in off the street, who volunteer in our English language program, who carry in mountains of winter coats, who come in huge numbers to the Run for Refugees.” (Stannard) The numbers for immigrates getting resettled are down than in recent years said George due to the vetting process that Trump administration.
Part II Rick Lessard
DeleteAs the 2020 election approaches, immigration will continue to be an important issue. The incredibly complex issue will only get worse as time goes on. There are numbers circulating the internet that there are the number of refugees around the globe is extremely high. Which means more and more people are going to want to enter in the United States. Donald Trump will run again in 2020 and will probably keep most of the same platform that won the presidency in the first place. What will be interesting is to see how Democrats respond to these mostly ignorant claims of immigration.
Works cited
“Illegal Immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, Killed Our People!” (campaign advertisement)
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1057728445386539008
Dickerson, Caitlin. "‘Dreamers’ Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA." New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html
Stannard, Ed. "Register Person of the Year: Chris George, Leader in Refugee Resettlement." New Haven Register, 24 Dec. 2017.
https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Register-Person-of-the-Year-Chris-George-leader-12453322.php#photo-14749564
Visser, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html
PART ONE Charlotte Gardner
ReplyDeleteThe President has been outspoken about many things, but he has consistently spoken out about his views on immigration. Since his campaign, Trump has made it one of his priorities to discuss immigration. From the beginning, Trump has been against immigration, specifically targeting Mexico and immigrants fleeing their home countries as refugees. His messaging has been effective because it is usually the same phrases echoed over and over again. These empty promises led his supporters through his rallies and was one of the key reasons they supported him before his presidency. Although he speaks his mind about the topic, the wall he has promised and has asked the Mexican government to pay for still hasn’t been built, and relations at the border are rising to an all-time low. As a chain of immigrants attempt to cross the border, Trump has given troops the go-ahead to shoot if need be. His stance on immigration can also translate to how he handles foreign affairs and meetings with foreign leaders (besides Putin and Kim Jong Un). I do think his messaging has been effective since I know a lot about his stance on immigration even though I don’t like to involve myself in politics. Even my mother, who hasn’t even told me what political party she aligns herself with, always shows her disgust at Trump’s immigration policies after he’s spoken out about them. His rhetoric completely appeals to his base of supporters. From some of his very first rallies, the chant “Build the wall” has been repeated countlessly by the MAGA fans. After two years have passed, attendees of rallies still carry signs that displays this message and began to chant it as soon as Trump mentions anything about immigration. Trump has also used his rhetoric to convince his base that immigrants are all criminals trying to come to America to steal jobs of citizens. While there definitely cases of this happening in our country, it is wrong to generalize every immigrant’s story, and also make them appear to be dangerous enemies of the people. However, Americans are less likely to believe such remarks even though the president uses them as a basis for his campaign against immigration, “Large majorities of Americans say that undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. are not more likely than U.S. citizens to commit serious crimes (65% say this) and that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs citizens don’t want (71% say this)” (Pew Research Center).
PART TWO Charlotte Gardner
DeleteA lot of people oppose Trump’s stance on immigration policies and have spoken out as a reaction to his comments. Many people have gone to marches to protest I.C.E camps, but mostly people speak out over social media. Celebrities have also taken to social media to express their support for those seeking refuge in the U.S. I think immigration will become an extremely potent issue in the next campaign. I believe that relations between different races are getting much worse just in our country, so people will definitely become way less accepting of other races trying to come into the country if they cannot even tolerate different races in the country already. I think we have a lot of social and moral issues that we must work on as a country in order to promote acceptance and tolerance of others. America is a “melting pot”, and that is a unique trait for the country that should always be upheld, “America is unique because it transcended this tribalism to become a multi-ethnic and multicultural nation. America is not, like European countries, based on ethnicity” (Basil Utley).
Work Cited
Dunn, Amina. “Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 16 Oct. 2018, www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/.
Utley, Jon Basil. “How to Resolve the Conservative Split Over Immigration.” The American Conservative, www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-to-resolve-the-conservative-split-over-immigration/.
ReplyDeleteEach time that I have heard Trump’s voice express his thoughts on immigration and minorities, I am struck with the same thought: fear mongering. My earliest thought goes back to the travel bans that were quite pointed at Middle Eastern, Muslim countries during his election, but even before that his concern were the “rapists” coming to the USA from Mexico. Recently, as a way to divert attentions during the mid term elections, Donald Trump’s face was constantly twisted into a Cheeto over the caravan traveling towards the southern border and who what kind of people could possibly be filling it. The people in the caravan could be scared, endangered, hopeful, drive, but above all else a public enemy in Trump’s America.
This rhetoric has motivated the fan base that has felt similarly regardless of whether or not they were vocal about it before. The rhetoric that people who are not like themselves are wrong or dangerous is one in which hatred and fear are cultivated. Trump’s appeal when he speaks like this is how he gives the opinions held by people who were told they were wrong a platform. On Twitter, Donald Trump tweeted an advertisement regarding a Mexican immigrant who is continuously vowing to kill policemen and using it to portray all people who are trying to cross the border (Illegal). I do not think that we could have seen such a rise in the neo nazi movement under a more peaceful, thoughtful rhetoric.
Those who have opposed his stance have been vocal and taken action. There have been many events including two Women’s Marches and a gay make out in front of Trump Tower in New York City. The ACLU has not been particularly quite during Trump’s presidency either. Each questionable decision that has been made by this administration (travel ban, DACA, deportations, separating families at the border) has been met with a flurry of action by the ACLU. A huge part of the reason this has been such an issue to people who oppose Trump has been the children that have been placed into camps. “When it comes to children, immigration detention is never appropriate under human rights law” (Visse). Family separation was under fire for the majority of the summer that garnered a mountain of support for families who were trying to stay together.
I believe that because of the strong feelings by both sides, this will continue to be an issue in the 2020 presidential election unless some kind of middle ground is met.
Works Cited
“Illegal Immigrant, Luis Bracamontes, Killed Our People!” (campaign advertisement
Visse, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
Dana Vogt (1/2)
ReplyDeleteImmigration has been one of President Trump’s primary issues since the beginning of his presidential campaign. How effective has the President’s messaging been in regards to immigration issues? How does his rhetoric appeal to his base? How have those who oppose his stance responded? Do you expect immigration to continue to be a major issue leading up to the 2020 presidential elections? Be sure to cite at least two of this week’s readings in your response.
President Trump’s loaded rhetoric has, no doubt, contributed to the polarizing nature of immigration discourse. There are many things that can lend to the division that immigration conversations create: the financial burden of accepting and documenting new citizens, the over-population of our country as it is, the idea of jobs being “stolen” by immigrants, and the simple nationalist attitude that Trump, admittedly, has adopted and instilled upon his supporters. Honestly, many of Trumps supporters bolstered his campaign from the start with extremist and nationalist attitudes against immigrants and basically anyone who is not a white male born in America. However negative and divisive Trump’s stance on immigration may be, one cannot deny the fact that his messaging has been effective in reaching widespread audiences, whether people discuss his views for the right reasons or not. Though I do not agree with Trump’s messaging on immigration, especially considering my adopted sister is a Black Latina immigrant from Colombia, I have to admit that he has brought immigration to the forefront of political discussions and policies more than ever before. Now, we need to use that positioning to create positive change.
President Trump continues to put into place restrictions on immigration to our country, particularly from Central America, which continually fuels charged messaging on the matter from politicians and concerned citizens alike. In reference to the most recent restriction on immigration to combat incoming “caravans” of Central Americans, The Associated Press writes, “The proclamation puts into place regulations adopted Thursday that circumvent laws stating that anyone is eligible for asylum no matter how he or she enters the country.” (Long). I find it notable that the article words Trump’s new proclamation as a circumvention of law, which is a huge red flag and indicative of potentially unjust policy.
Dana Vogt (2/2)
ReplyDeleteFurther, the AP quoted Trump saying, "We need people in our country but they have to come in legally and they have to have merit.” (Long). This vague yet offensive rhetoric begs the question, what constitutes a person with merit? Who is it up to in determining an immigrant who meets the standards of being American? At this point, does our own President meet our standards? Does he have the required merit?
In response to Trump’s questionable-at-best messaging, other Republicans have continued the same rhetoric. According to an article on FactCheck.org, many Republicans closed their campaign ads on television and online with a common theme: cracking down on immigration. For example, “Rep. French Hill, a two-term congressman, is airing a TV ad called ‘We Must Enforce the Law’ that shows images of tattooed members of a transnational gang known as the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, and warns that they are ‘infiltrating America.’” (Kiely). Using inflammatory words such as “infiltrating” is deceiving to the American people, potentially leading them to think that our country is under siege. I expect this rhetoric to continue into the 2020 presidential election because, clearly, it gets results and grabs the attention of both supporters and opposers of such policy. Supporters eat this language up and crave these as reasons to be outraged, while opposition seeks out such divisive language in an effort to directly curb it.
I also expect the opposition to grow even more vocal and personal in their outright fight against Trump’s immigration policies and messaging. One Connecticut Dreamer, a beneficiary of the DREAM Act that allows immigrants to stay in America and have work permits. Lucas Codognolla, executive director of Connecticut Students for a Dream, directly cites Trump’s words as hate speech. Codognolla says, “-when the president came out and bent to conservative extremist demands to end the program, for me I just thought he was furthering an agenda based on hate, xenophobia and racism. I wasn’t surprised that he made the decision, but I was a little surprised that he made [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions make the announcement.” (Radelate). Not only does this Dreamer think that Trump is furthering an agenda on hate, but also points out that he failed to deliver this message himself, which speaks volumes to his inability to make important announcements and declare divisive policy in the best interest of the nation.
Works Cited
Kiely, Eugne, et al. "Republican Closing Ads - Immigration." FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018.
Long, Colleen. "Trump Limits Asylum, Says People Must 'Come in Legally.'" Associated Press, 9 Nov. 2018.
Radelat, Ana. "A Connecticut ‘Dreamer,’ Committed to the Fight, Will Not Return to the Shadows." CT Mirror, 10 Sept. 2017.
Donald Trump’s messaging on immigration throughout his campaign has been extremely effective, albeit not in a positive way. He has generated such fear around immigrants, specifically those from Mexico, and continues to do so to this day. Currently a caravan of migrants is making its way to the United States to seek asylum in our country. Donald Trump is quoted as saying that within this caravan there are members of gangs who are coming solely to wreak havoc on the country (Visse, 2018).
ReplyDeleteTrump has done an amazing job appealing to his base because he is talking about immigration in a way that no one else is. He has created this idea of a problem about immigrants, convincing his supporters that there is without a doubt a severe illegal immigration crisis in the United States. No other candidate, Democrat or Republican, has talked about immigration the same way Trump has. By creating this fear, he has complete control over the image his supporters see when they think about immigrants. Additionally, because he created this fear and is the only one talking about it in such a way, he can present solutions that no other candidate has. This sets him apart and makes him seem smarter and like he cares more about the American people than other candidates do. In fact, his messaging and rhetoric has been so successful at convincing people that illegal immigration is threat #1 to the country that Pew Research (2018) found that less than half of Americans know that most of the immigrants in the country are here legally. This is contrary to actual data, cited by Pew Research (2018) that found that lawful immigrants make up more than two-thirds of the foreign born population of the United States as of 2015.
It is also worth pointing out the racism in Trump’s messaging and how this also helps to appeal to his base. Of course, I’m not accusing all Trump supporters of being racist. However, they do support a candidate who has been endorsed by former leaders of the KKK and did not denounce that endorsement. The endorsement of Trump by the KKK was more than likely a result of Trump’s messaging about immigrants. There is no doubt in my mind that many people with racist beliefs came out of the woodwork to support Trump due to his stance on immigration.
During the 2020 election immigration will no doubt be a prominent topic, especially if Trump runs, which at this point we pretty much know that he will. Republicans will take a stance on immigration similar to, if not exactly like, Trump’s stance. Some may try to appeal to a more moderate base, taking a stance against illegal immigration but supporting legal immigration. Others may just seem to oppose immigration all together. Democrats will take a stance opposite of Trump, more than likely outright calling him out by name. I expect to see this even during the primary campaign when candidates aren’t even going up against Trump directly. Coming out and calling out Trump by name is a good way to rally support on the Democrat’s side since so many oppose Republican stances on immigration, Trump, or both. Regardless of how it plays out, immigration will be a hot button issue that I think all candidates will be very out spoken on.
Work Cited
Dunn, A. (2018, October 16). Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/
Visser, N. (2018, October 30). Trump Says He'll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In 'Tent Cities'. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html
Build that wall. A phrase that is perhaps one of the most memorable phrases from any presidential candidate ever. Trump wants to secure the borders in the most Trump way possible. It’s loud, obnoxious, in your face and annoying, and the Trump supporters just cannot get enough. We know how much Trump supporters like to chant things. This idea of building a wall has been in the political conversation for some 2 years now, and we are still without this wall. However, Trump is still very vocal on his immigration policies, especially with the incoming caravan. To be totally fair I do feel that people should not be able to enter the country illegally with the exception of very certain circumstances. When it comes down to people seeking asylum, I feel that we need to set a cap for how many people we can allow into the country, but it can’t be a free for all. Trump has even said it himself that “We need people in our country, but they have to come in legally” (Long). Trump is not necessarily against the idea of people entering our country; in fact I find his word choice quite interesting. Trump says that we need people in our country. I’m not too sure if he means that in an obvious way, meaning that we need people in the country in order for it to function, or if he means that the country needs immigrants. Knowing how Trump feels about immigration I feel like he means that the country needs people to function, but if he actually means that he wants immigrants I think that there is something to be said there. While Trump may seem like a jerk for a lack of better words with immigration, he just wants people to enter the country the legal way. I can understand not wanting to become the asylum capitol of the world because it raises the question, how much is too much? If we let everyone into the country, where do we draw the line?
ReplyDeletePeople opposed to Trump’s views on immigration are working hard on their end too, but there is a strong republican response to the left’s combatting of the current immigration stand. “The Republican Majority Fund falsely accuses Tucker of being on the side of “Hollywood liberals” and “Washington politicians” who want to get rid of ICE.” ( Kiely, Gore, Farley) Prior to this course, I would say I did not keep a very close eye on politics, but now having done so much research, I can see that politics in 2018 can be compared to a school playground. There are groups of friends that stick together, rumors spread like wildfire and insults are thrown around like a football. It is just so frustrating to me to see people bend and manipulate the truth for their own benefit without caring about lying to the American people.
Work Cited
Hill, et al. “Republican Closing Ads: Immigration.” FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018, www.factcheck.org/2018/11/republican-closing-ads-immigration/.
Long, Colleen. “Trump Moves to Limit Asylum; New Rules Challenged in Court.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 10 Nov. 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/us-immigration-officials-move-restrict-asylum-border-055150535--politics.html.
Cali Kees
ReplyDeleteProfessor Burns
Blog Post #10
13, November 2018
Immigration has been an issue that Trump has focused on since the beginning of his presidential campaign. The chants to build a wall electrified his rallies on the campaign trail and he continues to address immigration with similar rhetoric to date. Prior to the midterm election Trump focused a lot of his attention to a “caravan” of 3,500 migrants planning to apply for asylum in the United States after fleeing violence in Honduras. In response to this situation in a Huffington Post article, Trump is quoted as saying, ““We’re catching; we’re not releasing,”,” (Visse 1). By this he means that if they apply for asylum, the United States is going to hold the migrants until their trial takes place…and he plans on holding them in “tent cities.” The article cites that Trump also made claims that members of this caravan were bad people and gang members, as he often has claimed when speaking about illegal immigrants in the past.
This rhetoric does appeal to his base, as a large percentage of Republicans still believe that illegal immigrants are taking hard working Americans jobs and they are responsible for a lot of crime. In an article, "Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S.,” by the Pew Research Center cites that, "Republicans are divided over whether undocumented immigrants are more likely than U.S. citizens to commit serious crimes: 42% say they are more likely to commit serious crimes, while 46% say they are not,” (Pew Research Center 6). Republicans are also very split in regards to immigrants and jobs, "57%-majority of Republicans and Republican leaners,” (Pew Research 6), take the view that Republicans do not thing immigrants take jobs from Americans. But the other 43% do believe that they do. So because there are large groups in the Republican and Republican leaners who do believe that illegal immigrants do take jobs and can be credited with a lot of the crime that happens in this country—Trump's terminology and messaging has really appealed to these groups.
But for those opposing Trump it has given them more fuel to set fire to their anger. Many have responded to this with action which we have seen recently—going to the polls and voting—this past midterm election saw a record voter turnout. Many have also responded by running for public office and amongst those who have decided to run in this “anti-Trump” wave many have made their views on immigrations a very large part of their campaign. Republicans also focused on immigration this midterm election cycle, following Trump. According to an article by Eugene Kiely, “Republican Closing Ads - Immigration,” A database of TV ads maintained by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group shows that 162 TV ads airing in the last seven days, since Oct. 27, contain “anti-immigration” messages,” (Kiely 1).
With this being a hot topic this midterm I think it will continue into the next Presidential Election cycle in Trump makes comments on his stance of immigration almost daily on twitter and to the media. I think he will continue to do so in 2020…and he will be vocal about wanting to know his competitors stance. Republicans and Democrats have really been torn on this issue for years and I feel like with the events have unfolded under Trumps presidency will make this a major issue discussed and debated in 2020.
Works Cited:
DeleteKiely, Eugne, et al. "Republican Closing Ads - Immigration." FactCheck.org, 2 Nov. 2018.
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018.
Visse, Nick. "Trump Says He’ll Put Any Asylum Seeker from Migrant Caravan In ‘Tent Cities.’" Huffington Post, 30 Oct. 2018.
I think that President Trump’s message regarding immigration has been pretty effective mostly due to his use of social media. What that means is that President Trump is constantly tweeting about building a wall, the migrant caravans and so many other topics and those tweets fuel his base. When the President is able to directly put out whatever pops into his head or whatever he sees on Fox News on twitter, it fuels his base and puts out false information on what is really going on. In that regard, I think the President’s message regarding immigration issues is also effective because when he tweets outlandish statements about immigration, it gets news channels from all sides of the isle to talk about that. What that does it two things. First, it helps put his message out. Even if networks like CNN or NBC trash his message and go against it, it is still helping to spread it. Second, it takes time away from them talking about other issues that really exist instead of talking about what the President wants them to talk about. The way the President has been able to play the media into doing those two things is pretty remarkable.
ReplyDeleteA Yahoo! News article written by Colleen Long talked about President Trump’s message before and after the midterm elections.
“Trump pushed immigration issues hard in the days leading up to Tuesday's midterm elections, railing against the caravans that are still hundreds of miles from the border. He has made little mention of the issue since the election, but has sent troops to the border in response. As of Thursday, there were more than 5,600 U.S. troops deployed to the border mission, with about 550 actually working on the border in Texas.” And President Trump has barely tweeted about the issue since the midterm. I would say Trump was very effective.
I think that we have seen President Trump appeal to his base like almost no president before. It is amazing what he does and says and they don’t even bat an eye. So his base loves his rhetoric. They love that he says what he thinks and that he openly talks about not wanting illegal immigrants coming into his country. I actually wonder what he would have to do for his base to turn on him.
The way that those who oppose his stance have responded are by letting it play out in court. A New York Times article written by Caitlin Dickerson says, “A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a nationwide injunction against the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke deportation protections for some 700,000 young “Dreamers” who were brought into the United States illegally as children.” As long as the courts continue to keep President Trump and his policies in check, that is the exact balance of power that America needs. Besides protesting, the rest of the people who oppose his stance can just continue to support the courts in resisting his executive orders.
DeleteI do see immigration being a big issue leading up to and in the 2020 election because immigration is such a polarizing issue. People on both sides of the isle are very passionate about immigration issues so it is a great selling point for whichever candidate represents each of the major parties.
Dickerson, Caitlin. “'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html.
Long, Colleen. “Trump Moves to Limit Asylum; New Rules Challenged in Court.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 10 Nov. 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/us-immigration-officials-move-restrict-asylum-border-055150535--politics.html.
Donald Trump and immigration has been like bread and butter, being one of his most discussed policies as well as on the forefront of his 2016 presidential campaign. Immigration reform has been a controversial subject between democrats and republicans for many years, but recently has it become a red hot issue in the face of Donald Trump. While very controversial, it was not the defining policy that would make or break an election. With some elbow grease, Donald Trump has made immigration one of the most talked about issues, gaining an incredible amount of support and attention. His messaging in regards to immigration is urgent and easy to comprehend; Drug traffickers, rapists, and bad men are flooding our country, and we need to stop them right now to protect America. While the truth behind the statement is clouded, it has enraptured American politics and stoked enough fear to start a huge anti-immigration movement in the country. Incredibly effective and quite dangerous. Trump’s base absolutely loves the challenging rhetoric, being “America first.” It is ignorant and selfish, but there are thousands of Americans that resent the idea of giving aid and resources away to Mexicans or any other people of color. immigration Trump’s policy has served as a means of division, and it has achieved the strong division between our political parties. Those who oppose Trump’s immigration policies have gone to challenge them in court. article, “Trump moves to limit asylum; new rules challenged in court” by Colleen Long, there is huge pushback from organizations like The American Civil Liberties Union to challenge Trump on removing asylum rights to immigrants if they have not entered the country legally. This would put thousands of immigrants in serious danger if their asylum rights are taken away from them. There will be organizations that will fight Donald Trump in court every single step of the way, highlighting the divide between our party’s ideals. Leading up to the 2020 elections, immigration will still play a huge role. Just like the over the top coverage of the “migrant caravan,” there will be more sensational news stories about the dangers of immigration. From the article “Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S.” by Amina Dunn, there are actually more people that support legal immigration now, while the amount that are against it has stayed the same, according to Pew Research. As the child of a mother who has immigrated to the US from Cambodia to escape the Cambodian Genocide, I support immigration as it allowed my parents to meet and my sister and I to be born.
ReplyDeleteWorks cited
Dunn, Amina. “Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration Into the U.S.” Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 16 Oct. 2018, www.people-press.org/2018/06/28/shifting-public-views-on-legal-immigration-into-the-u-s/.
Long, Colleen. “Trump Moves to Limit Asylum; New Rules Challenged in Court.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 10 Nov. 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/us-immigration-officials-move-restrict-asylum-border-055150535--politics.html.
John McMahon Blog
ReplyDeleteThe president has made it very clear on his thoughts on immigration over the course of his campaign and thus far into his presidency. From the “Build that Wall” chants to the impending “invasion” of south American migrants approaching the southern border, his distaste for illegal immigration is quite obvious. For his devote supporters, his rhetoric only fuels the fire for them and xenophobia for many. However, not everyone responds so affectionately to Trump’s message about immigration. Trump has been a critic of DACA reform introduced from the Obama era, planning on gradually phasing out the program over the course of his administration. Recently, A federal appeals court upheld a nationwide case against the Trump’s attempt to take away deportation protections for “Dreamers”, or people who were brought into the United States illegally as children. In a recent article in the New York Times, public counsel lawyer Mark Rosenbaum voiced his disdain for Trump’s plan saying “Nobody in the country is suffering because of the presence of the young people. There’s no imperative. This is just cruelty that serves no national purpose” (Dickerson, 1).
In terms of its effectiveness, President Trump is compelling in this message in the sense that immigrants are a source of impending doom for this country. He implies that they will take good jobs away from hard working Americans and that they are the source of all of the country’s problems. Trump takes the humanity out of the equation, glossing over that many illegal immigrants are fleeing hardship from their own country and seek asylum within the US. In an article by Yahoo News, President Trump is known to have said (about the Migrant caravan) that “We’re catching; we’re not releasing,” and “So if they want to come over, we’re not even doing that. We’re not letting them into this country. If they apply for asylum, we’re going to hold them until such time as their trial takes place” (Visser, 1). With sayings like “we’re catching, not releasing”, trump clearly shows his sentiment towards immigrants, regardless of the legality of their entry into the United States.
I personally believe immigration will be a huge issue in the 2020 election. President Trump has made it a point make it a priority throughout his time in office. Other candidates will have to either take a stand essentially for tighter or lighter immigration reform. Trump will surely run for reelection and his rhetoric will continue, and if any candidate wants a fighting chance against Trump they will have to make their opinion known on the matter. Furthermore, how Trump handles DACA and how it turns out over the next two years of his administration will shape the conversation of immigration for the 2020 election. The outcome of the approaching south American immigrant caravan will come into play as well. Regardless of his infamous wall ever does get built, it will remain a symbolic barrier to immigrants and immigrant families throughout his presidency and the course of the next few years.
Jeffrey Evans
ReplyDeleteAs we know, Trump made it very clear since the 2016 election about how he feels on immigration. He has run his campaign using one of the slogans “Build A Wall” and really is focusing on making it harder for immigrants to come into this country. I believe that immigration being one of his biggest talking points since his campaign has its positives and negatives. Firstly, a large group of Americans obviously believe we have an issue with immigration; and this group is his fan base. As we saw in his rallies and during his speeches, his fan base would become electrified when he would talk about building a wall and stopping illegal immigrants. I believe this is one of the reasons he won because he has such a big fan base who really agrees with his stance on immigration. More recently Trump began talking about immigration again. A few weeks ago he released an ad that basically said Democrats are allowing killers and criminals into our country. The video went on to show clips of immigrants who have killed people or people who committed crimes to try to demonstrate that immigrants are bad. However, besides his fan base no one else really agrees with these views. This is where I believe his views can be looked at as being a negative thing. Since almost everyone who doesn’t support Trump believes that immigration should not be handled this way, he may run into some problems in the future. We have seen a huge shift in America with its views on immigration. This article states “Since 2001, the share of Americans who favor increased legal immigration into the U.S. has risen 22 percentage points (from 10% to 32%), while the share who support a decrease has declined 29 points (from 53% to 24%)” (Pew Research Center, 1). This is huge shift because its showing that Americans are changing their views on immigration. A big percentage of people now feel that legal immigration should be allowed and is something they favor instead of in 2001 where they felt it should be decreased. Additionally, recently Trump’s administration attempted to revoke deportation protections for some of the 700,000 Dreamers that were brought here illegally. However, the court appeals this and found that “there was a good chance the plaintiffs could succeed in their claim that the Trump administration’s abrupt attempt to rescind the program violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause, based on its disproportionate impact on Latinos” (Dickerson 2018). This is a huge step in changing the views on immigration and giving the “Dreamers” a chance in America. Overall, I believe that in the 2020 election immigration is going to be a huge topic once again. However, I believe that with Trump being so against immigration that this will allow a Democrat to take full advantage and potentially beat Trump. A Democratic candidate who will have a more progressive view on immigration will allow them to reach the millions of people who think that legal immigration should be increased and not just turn our backs on the people who are in need of our help.
Work Cited
"Shifting Public Views on Legal Immigration into the U.S." Pew Research Center, 28 June 2018.
Dickerson, Caitlin. “'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html.
John McMahon works cited
ReplyDeleteDickerson, Caitlin. “'Dreamers' Win Round in Legal Battle to Keep DACA.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Nov. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/daca-dreamers-9th-circuit.html.
Visser, Nick. “Trump Says He'll Put Any Asylum Seeker From Migrant Caravan In 'Tent Cities'.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 30 Oct. 2018, www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-ll-put-asylum-033359911.html.
Sophie Rodgers
ReplyDeleteDr. Burns
MSS 349-01
13 November, 2018
It seems now that any conversation about politics is incomplete without bringing up immigration. While always a hot and controversial topic, the Trump campaign and current administration has brought the issue right to the forefront of American politics. From his original promise to “build the wall” to his most recent plan to end birthright citizenship, the president’s position on immigrants is clear: he doesn’t want them here (despite the fact that his paternal grandparents, mother, and wife are all immigrants).
Trump’s strategy for immigration has centered around fear. Over and over again, his rhetoric focuses on negative stereotypes and portrayals of immigrants. His repeated message is that allowing people from other countries to enter the United States, even those who are refugees or seeking asylum, will lead to huge increases in crime and threats to national security. He refers to immigrants with such derogatory terms as “‘bad people’... ‘in gangs’”, claiming that Democrats who support easier access to the United States are members of the “‘party of crime’” (Visser). Trump emphasizes immigrant violence at rallies and in interviews, often citing MS-13, an international crime gang primarily made up of people from Central America. In a Republican campaign ad from October 31, a video shows Luis Bracamontes, an illegal immigrant who killed several police officers, along with videos of Hispanic and Latino people at a rally of some kind. Text appears saying “Democrats let [Luis] in… Who else would Democrats let in? Donald J. Trump and Republicans are making America safe again!” (Trump). The president tweeted the video with the caption, “It is outrageous what the Democrats are doing to our country. Vote Republican now!”. Other members of the Republican party have released similar ads. One from Arkansas representative French Hill says that “MS-13, the most dangerous gang infiltrating America, but Washington liberals want to get rid of ICE, the police enforcing our immigration laws and protecting our border from MS-13.” (Hill, et al). Another video, in support of Texas senator Ted Cruz, begins with the words, “The [migrant] caravan is coming… Some say criminals among them.”, and calls opponent Beto O’Rourke’s more accepting stance towards immigrants “recklessly radical” (Hill, et al).
These fear tactics are directed towards Trump’s base of voters: non-college educated people, often from rural areas, whose main concerns are national security and economic prosperity. Trump targets these voters by spreading fear of the unknown. He presents immigrants as incredibly dangerous to Americans’ safety and values, and claims that the Republican party is the best line of defense against that. He frames any policy that aids immigration as something that will lead to crime, chaos, and a takeover of the nation. He describes the Democratic party as enablers of law-breaking, crime, and radicalism in order to secure his perception as someone who is just trying to protect hard working American citizens.