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The immigration solution

Published by digby on June 10, 2019

The immigration solution

by digby

Immigration is a complicated issue for most Democrats. A lot of people are frustrated by it and the Republicans have stoked the paranoia to a fever pitch. But there are some solutions to the current influx (still much less than many times in the past) and they should be more forthright about talking about them. Beto O’Rourke’s answer here is a good one:

And here’s Elizabeth Warren explaining to people in Iowa why we can’t seem to get anything done on the issue:

This is obviously going to be a big issue in the upcoming campaign because Donald Trump wants it to be. Democrats need to have a clear answer about how we got here, how Trump and the Republicans are making it worse. And they have to answer about what to do about it. Passing CIR will be at the top of the list. The House just passed the DREAM Act last week. But they also have to admit that this problem is caused by serious systemic issues in Central America and it won’t get solved unless we address that as well. O’Rourke is talking about that and I think that’s something the nation needs to hear. We aren’t alone on this continent and we’re not going to build that stupid wall. So there is a foreign policy element that has to be dealt with if the Democrats hope to gain an advantage on the issue.

Update

Paul Waldman’s analysis is excellent:

Note that O’Rourke used this situation as a window into a much broader indictment of Trump’s nationalist agenda. He stressed that the threat of tariffs against Mexico is only serving to “jeopardize” our “most important trading relationship”; that this places at risk markets that our farmers have cultivated; and that they are already taking a beating from Trump’s trade wars with China.

Importantly, O’Rourke made the case that precisely the opposite approach — strengthened, reality-based international integration — is the answer both on trade and on immigration. O’Rourke called for trade arrangements in farmers’ and workers’ interests and for increased investments in Central America “to ensure that no family has to make that 2,000-mile journey.”

A better Democratic response

This hints at the outlines of a better Democratic response to Trumpian nationalism in 2020. Trump’s trade war with China is dragging on and harming his own constituencies. This, combined with the chaos attending the threats against Mexico, gives Democrats a good argument: that in practice, Trump’s nationalism is reckless, often driven by impulse and rage, and out of sync with the complex realities of international diplomacy and the global economy.

As Neil Irwin argues, Democrats can pledge to move away from two-country tariff wars and instead toward mobilizing an international response with allies against China’s trade abuses. Similarly, Democrats can argue for renegotiated trade deals that raise wage, labor and environmental standards, with the goal of helping U.S. workers via a sensible internationalism in contrast to Trump’s erratic nationalism.

Joe Biden has already started road-testing such an argument. And O’Rourke’s new comments move in this direction as well.

Indeed, the way O’Rourke wove in his arguments on immigration also underscores the point. Democrats can argue for improved regional cooperation on the asylum crisis, including investments in Central America and policies to encourage in-country application for asylum to reduce the impetus to such migrations. They can combine this with a refusal to back off our international humanitarian commitments, as O’Rourke gave voice to, while reminding everyone of Trump’s horrific family separations.

This again would contrast with the recklessness and impulsiveness of Trump’s nationalism, which has led Trump to cut off aid to Northern Triangle countries and try to dissuade migrations with ever-mounting cruelties and “toughness,” an approach that’s largely failing.

One can see such a Democratic argument appealing to both working people (who might have once thrilled to Trump’s anti-China bluster, but are taking hits from Trump’s trade wars and are uncomfortable with Trump’s more grisly immigration horrors) and to college-educated whites who are already alienated by the hideous realities of America First-ism — and are likely comfortable with internationalist solutions on both issues.

Now that Trump has once again threatened Mexico with more tariffs, Democrats have a new opening to press this case more comprehensively.

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