Politics

President Trump Should Keep Promises On Immigration & Refugees

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Justin Caruso Contributor
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Candidate Donald Trump ran on a campaign to stop illegal immigration, end Barack Obama’s unconstitutional “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) plan, and suspend the Syrian refugee program.

“When I’m elected president, we will suspend the Syrian refugee program and we will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump said at a rally just two days before the election.

Candidate Trump also said he would “immediately terminate” DACA, which protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children.

And yet, months after being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, DACA remains unchanged and refugees continue to enter the United States.

Recent reporting has shown the depth of these issues. In Trump’s first few months, nearly 100,000 “Dreamers” were given amnesty. (RELATED: Nearly 100,000 ‘Dreamers’ Granted Amnesty In Trump’s Opening Months)

17,275 new applications for DACA were processed, leading Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies to calculate, “an average of 192 new illegals a day granted amnesty by Donald Trump.”

Trump could stop this, but hasn’t yet. Instead, he has said that this was a “case of heart” and that Dreamers should “rest easy.”

The State Department has also recently dropped quota rules for refugees entering the country, and most notably, Trump has reportedly resettled 1,401 Syrian refugees as President, which is more than double President Obama resettled during the same time in 2016. (RELATED: Trump Is Resettling Syrian Refugees At A Much Quicker Pace Than Obama)

And Trump’s proposed 2018 budget provided billions for refugee programs and supports the resettlement of 50,000 refugees.

If we wanted immigration and refugee policies like this, we could have elected Hillary Clinton, or ¡Jeb! Bush.

But America didn’t. America elected Donald Trump, because he refused to toe the open-borders line. We elected Trump because we wanted immigration policies that put Americans first and protected the American nation. That must include illegal immigration enforcement, and refugee policies that keep Americans safe.

Not all the inaction is Trump’s fault. In January, he signed an executive order that banned travel from several Middle Eastern and African countries, temporarily suspended the American refugee program and stopped all Syrian refugees from coming into the United States. It was relentlessly challenged and made useless by the federal courts. (RELATED: 9th Circuit Upholds Injunction On Trump’s Second Travel Ban)

Following the London attacks, Trump signaled that he still wanted a travel ban:

He also faces intense scrutiny and pushback from pro-amnesty forces not just in government, but also from Hollywood and the mainstream media.

But Trump voters nonetheless want to see him fulfill his campaign promises on immigration.

As studies have shown, a majority of amount of job growth in the last 15 years has gone to foreign-born workers, and millions of men have totally dropped out of the workforce.

And as Europe is reeling from radical Islamic terror, it is only common sense to take a harder look at immigrants and refugees from some of the most dangerous parts of the world.

Some reports are showing that Trump’s strong approval is starting to slip, especially with core voters like white Americans without college degrees. Inaction on this issue will not be popular with Trump’s base. Policy changes on immigration that fulfill Trump’s campaign promises could turn Trump’s numbers around if done right.

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