De Blasio is not alone in exploiting the human suffering at the border. A whining Hillary Clinton and the odious Linda Sarsour are among those trying to fundraise off other people’s misery.
They rattle their tin cups, issue calls to marches and attack Trump, but none offers a practical response to one of America’s most vexing problems: What to do about the human waves washing up on our southern border.
Certainly the previous administration didn’t have an answer other than to apprehend tens of thousands of illegal crossers and bus them to unsuspecting communities across America while they supposedly waited for immigration hearings. Federal officials say 97 percent — 97 percent! — never showed up for those hearings.
Unfortunately, Trump doesn’t have the answer either, as the poorly planned “zero tolerance” policy showed. The brainchild of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, it included no preparations for dealing with the predictable clamor over separating families so the adults could be prosecuted.
Trump quickly realized he could not fight the power of a thousand heart-rending photos (a few of which were staged or mislabeled) and tried to get off the hook with a new executive order that would keep families together. It may buy him a little time — but only a little.
That’s because, in addition to the logistics of handling the sheer number of illegal crossers and asylum seekers amid the thicket of laws and court rulings, the GOP can’t get its act together to pass legislation despite controlling Congress.
So Trump stands alone, which means immigration will continue to defy solution. Though he has vacillated on details, the president at least offers a sensible position that’s easy to grasp: America must control its borders and decide who gets to come in, as virtually every other nation in the world does.
In addition to repeating his promise to build a wall, he met Friday with “Angel Families,”who lost loved ones during crimes committed by illegal immigrants, some of whom had been deported numerous times. To the media and advocates who celebrate all immigrants, the “Angel Families” are invisible.
Because stopping illegal immigration is popular in much of the nation, it is not surprising that an early poll finds most criticism directed at the Central American parents who risk their children’s lives by bringing them on the dangerous journey or sending them with smugglers.
Rasmussen reports that 54 percent of likely voters said the parents are more to blame for the crisis, against 35 percent who say the government is more to blame.
Meanwhile, the left is going in the opposite direction by uniting behind California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who turned 85 last week and is seeking another six-year term. Trying to rally the far-left base in her blue state, Feinstein *authored a bill that would, among other things, prohibit an arrest for illegal entry anywhere within 100 miles of a border.
Incredibly, the other 48 Senate Dems signed on, meaning they’ve all cast their lots with an outlandishly radical policy.
Yet Feinstein and others insist they don’t favor open borders. OK, then, let’s put it this way: they favor no borders and want the US to admit the whole world, free of charge and no questions asked.
Yeah, that’ll sell in November.