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Trump’s immigration policy

The devil and a saint were debating whether there was really a God. “Look,” said the Devil, holding a Bible, “even the Bible says in Psalm 14:1 ‘There is no God.’”  The saint shook his head and began “swimming in a sea of doubt.” The devil laughed, for he had tricked the saint who did not bother to read the Bible. The devil had taken the Biblical verse out of context by covering the first part of the verse with his thumb. The entire verse read: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” 

That is how certain members of the liberal pro Democratic media report speeches by presidential candidate Donald Trump—by covering or not reporting certain parts or distorting what he said—in order to portray Mr. Trump as an evil person. For instance, the headline of one article read: “Trump promises wall and massive deportation.” Never in his speech in Phoenix did Trump talk about “massive deportation.” Another article’s headline was: “Trump’s immigration rope-a-dope.” Trump’s speech was straightforward; not dancing around the ring like Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope.

Many people in America, especially immigrants, want to know the true immigration policy of Mr. Trump. Space limitations preclude quoting the more than 4,000-word speech in full. But here are the most relevant excerpts from the full text of Donald Trump's speech on immigration in Phoenix, AZ, on August 31, 2016 as reported in the Los Angeles Times. (Google: “Transcript: Donald Trump’s full immigration speech, annotated”.)

“The fundamental problem with the immigration system in our country is that it serves the needs of wealthy donors, political activists and powerful, powerful politicians…

Let me tell you who it doesn’t serve. It does not serve you, the American people…

When politicians talk about immigration reform, they usually mean the following: amnesty, open borders, and lower wages. Immigration reform should mean something else entirely. It should mean improvements to our laws and policies to make life better for American citizens…

But if we’re going to make our immigration system work, then we have to be prepared to talk honestly and without fear about these important and sensitive issues.

For instance, we have to listen to the concerns that working people, our forgotten working people, have over the record pace of immigration and its impact on their jobs, wages, housing, schools, tax bills, and general living conditions. These are valid concerns, expressed by decent and patriotic citizens from all backgrounds, all over.

We also have to be honest about the fact that not everyone who seeks to join our country will be able to successfully assimilate. Sometimes it’s just not going to work out. It’s our right as a sovereign nation to choose immigrants that we think are the likeliest to thrive and flourish and love us.

Then there is the issue of security. Countless innocent American lives have been stolen because our politicians have failed in their duty to secure our borders and enforce our laws like they have to be enforced….

A 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office found that illegal immigrants and other non-citizens, in our prisons and jails together, had around 25,000 homicide arrests to their names, 25,000.

On top of that, illegal immigration costs our country more than $113 billion dollars a year. And this is what we get. For the money we are going to spend on illegal immigration over the next ten years, we could provide one million at-risk students with a school voucher, which so many people are wanting.

While there are many illegal immigrants in our country who are good people, many, many, this doesn’t change the fact that most illegal immigrants are lower-skilled workers with less education who compete directly against vulnerable American workers, and that these illegal workers draw much more out from the system than they can ever possibly pay back. And they’re hurting a lot of our people that cannot get jobs under any circumstances.

But these facts are never reported. Instead, the media and my opponent discuss one thing, and only one thing: the needs of people living here illegally. In many cases, by the way, they’re treated better than our vets. Not going to happen anymore, folks. November 8th. Not going to happen anymore.

The truth is, the central issue is not the needs of the 11 million illegal immigrants or however many there may be—and honestly we’ve been hearing that number for years. It’s always 11 million. Our government has no idea. It could be 3 million. It could be 30 million. They have no idea what the number is…

But whatever the number, that’s never really been the central issue. It will never be the central issue. It does not matter from that standpoint. Anyone who tells you that the core issue is the needs of those living here illegally has simply spent too much time in Washington. Only the out of touch media elites think the biggest problem facing America - - you know this, this is what they talk about, facing American society today is that there are 11 million illegal immigrants who don’t have legal status…

To all the politicians, donors and special interests, hear these words from me and all of you today.  There is only one core issue in the immigration debate, and that issue is the well-being of the American people. . .

We will be fair, just, and compassionate to all. But our greatest compassion must be for our American citizens.

Let me tell you about my plan…

Number One: We will build a great wall along the southern border.

Number Two: We are going to end catch and release.

Number Three: Zero tolerance for criminal aliens.

Number Four: Block funding for sanctuary cities.

Number Five: Cancel unconstitutional executive orders & enforce all immigration laws.

Number Six: We are going to suspend the issuance of visas to any place where adequate screening cannot occur.

Number Seven: We will insure that other countries take their people back when we order them deported.

Number Eight: We will finally complete the biometric entry-exit visa tracking system which we need desperately.

Number Nine: We will turn off the jobs and benefits magnet.

Number 10: We will reform legal immigration to serve the best interests of America and its workers, the forgotten people.

These 10 steps, if rigorously followed and enforced, will accomplish more in a matter of months than our politicians have accomplished on this issue in the last 50 years. It’s going to happen, folks, because I am proudly not a politician, because I am not beholden to any special interest.

I will get this done for you and for your family. We’ll do it right. You’ll be proud of our country again.

For those here illegally today, who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for reentry like everybody else, under the rules of the new legal immigration system that I have outlined above.

We will break the cycle of amnesty and illegal immigration. We will break the cycle. There will be no amnesty. Our message to the world will be this. You cannot obtain legal status or become a citizen of the United States by illegally entering our country.”


(Atty. Tipon has a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School where he specialized in Constitutional Law. He has also a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of the Philippines. He placed third in the Philippine Bar Examination in 1956. His current practice focuses on immigration law and criminal defense. He writes law books for the world’s largest law book publishing company and writes legal articles for newspapers. He has a radio show, The Tipon Report, in Honolulu, Hawaii with his son Noel, senior partner of the Bilecki & Tipon law firm. Office: American Savings Bank Tower, 1001 Bishop Street, Suite 2305, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. 96813. Tel. (808) 225-2645. E-Mail: filamlaw@yahoo.com. Website: www.bileckilawgroup.com. He was born in Laoag City, Philippines. He served as a U.S. Immigration Officer. He is a co-author of “Immigration Law Service, 1st ed.,” an 8-volume practice guide for immigration officers and lawyers. This article is a general overview of the subject matter discussed and is not intended as legal advice. No warranty is made by the writer or publisher as to its completeness or correctness at the time of publication. No attorney-client relationship is established between the writer and readers relying upon and/or acting pursuant to the contents of this article.)

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