Donald Trump embraced the nationalist populist persona throughout his presidential campaign. And now he does so in his presidency, especially on immigration.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that President Trump is governing the way he promised. But many of his critics on both sides of the aisle have expressed a level of shock they felt couldn’t be reached, particularly in the last week.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Friday that almost 2,000 children entering the country illegally through U.S. points of entry were separated from their accompanying adults.
Trump tried to immediately pin the blame of children being separated from their families on the Democrats.
The Democrats are forcing the breakup of families at the Border with their horrible and cruel legislative agenda. Any Immigration Bill MUST HAVE full funding for the Wall, end Catch & Release, Visa Lottery and Chain, and go to Merit Based Immigration. Go for it! WIN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2018
DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen even tweeted that they don’t have a policy of separating children from their families who cross into the country illegally.
We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.
— Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen (@SecNielsen) June 17, 2018
Yet, according to a report in the New York Times, Trump’s own policy adviser, Stephen Miller, is said to be responsible for pushing this new “zero tolerance” nuclear option of child separation as a strong deterrent to future migrants seeking to cross into the U.S. illegally. Trump even suggested the use of such a policy is leverage for future negotiations in getting a better immigration bill across the finish life.
Suffice it to say, it is not a popular policy, even within the president’s own family. First lady Melania Trump came forward denouncing the policy, saying in a statement that “[she] hates to see children separated from their families and hopes both sides of the aisle can finally come together to achieve successful immigration reform.”
Still, Trump isn’t giving up putting the onus on the Democrats.
The Democrats should get together with their Republican counterparts and work something out on Border Security & Safety. Don’t wait until after the election because you are going to lose!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2018
Here’s the thing: Trump has enough ammo against the Obama administration in exposing their handling of the influx of undocumented immigrants and the housing of thousands in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers beginning in 2013.
However, Trump can’t blame Obama or the Democrats for this specific policy of breaking up families. That’s solely on him and his administration.
Yes, Democrats did not express the same level of outrage they did when Barack Obama was in office. And that’s a shame. But they’re not the party that currently controls the House, Senate, or even White House. They don’t hold all the cards in this.
If Trump is serious about fixing immigration, he needs to stop acting like a demagogue on the issue and actually play a unifying role that can bring all sides to the table. Until he can do that, he’s not doing himself any favors.
