OPINION:
President Donald Trump, the guy who promised to drain the swamp, is instead sinking fast into its muddy waters, one wrong DACA move away from drowning.
Now just because Trump’s sat down with Democrats to discuss border deals doesn’t mean a deal’s been struck. No need to condemn the president just yet. He is, after all, simply trying to work with both sides of the political aisle, a feat that’s generally praised, in political circles, as bipartisanship. But perception in politics means everything. Messaging and the media are paramount. The left will use whatever means available to drive a wedge between Trump and his supporters, between Republican and Republican.
And now, post-Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer chat? MAGA hats are being burned in the streets. Families of victims murdered by illegals are starting to come forward, flashing photos of their killed loved ones as they remind Trump of his campaign vows of no amnesty.
On the heels of a widely reported meeting with Sen. Schumer and Rep. Pelosi — a private White House sit-down that left out the Republican leadership — Trump tried to tweet away the bad press. When Schumer and Pelosi announced a struck DACA deal with no funding for a border wall, the White House fired back: Not so.
But Trump’s tweets suggested otherwise.
“Does anybody really want to throw out good, educated and accomplished young people who have jobs, some serving in the military? Really!” he tweeted.
And in a followup, he wrote: “…They have been in our country for many years through no fault of their own — brought in by parents at young age. Plus BIG border security.”
He also insisted “no deal was made” on DACA and none would — except in the right circumstances.
“Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent” on DACA, he tweeted. “Would be subject to vote.”
OK. So the art of the deal guy is indeed wheeling and dealing with Democrats to get a border wall funded — to get perhaps other promised presidential agendas passed.
But immigration was the core Trump campaign issue. It was his signature platform, the one that drove him across the finish line. Obamacare repeal was a close second — but first and foremost has always been Trump’s call to tighten borders.
Remember Kate Steinle, the California woman who was killed as she walked on a pier with her father by an illegal with previous deportations and a lengthy criminal background? Trump seized on this story and rode it all the way to the White House, vowing an end to sanctuary cities, a stop to sieve-like borders, a fight against amnesty-loving politicians.
DACA, the unconstitutionally created program by Barack Obama, who bypassed Congress to magic wand-wave 800,000 or so illegals into America — illegals the left likes to call Dreamers — is part and parcel of border security. If Trump grants them all amnesty, he’s toast.
His supporters will walk.
His White House might as well retire the elephant banner and hang the one with the donkey on it. He’ll have become just another Republican siding with Democrats.
DACA recipients are not young and innocent little kids. Some have committed felonies; some are gang members; some are drug dealers. And giving them a free pass into America isn’t only dangerous in the immediate. It’s risky business for the long-term, because it sends the message to others who would cross illegally into America — go ahead, we’re an open-door administration, just like the previous one.
Don’t do it, President Trump.
Don’t sell out on DACA to Democrats.
When it comes to dealing with DACA in a way that doesn’t neglect your base — a base that includes the sad faces of families hit hard by illegals who’ve committed egregious crimes against their loved ones — there is no amnesty deal that will be well received. When it comes to dealing with DACA in a way that upholds campaign promises, yes indeed, President Trump, there’s no easy way out — you really have to.
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