Democrats have a big problem: Their border policy is loco – By Phil Boas (Arizona Republic) / March 9 2020
A national discussion has begun. Democrats ran wildly to the left on border issues in their primaries. They had better bring it back to the center.
What is going on out there? Editorial page editor Phil Boas offers regular insights, ideas and must-reads that help explain it all – from a conservative point of view. Send comments and links to phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.
DEMOCRATS HAVE A BIG PROBLEM: THEIR BORDER POLICY IS LOCO
You didn’t expect this discussion to start in The New York Times, but here it is:
The American left is headed for the jagged rocks of 2020 electoral defeat if it doesn’t soon find its bearings on border issues. If not, it may lose the White House because of immigration radicalism.
In a long essay headlined “The Open Borders Trap,” Times senior writer Jason DeParle reminds readers that in 2008 the Democratic Party platform argued, “We cannot continue to allow people to enter the United States undetected, undocumented and unchecked. We need to secure our borders.”
That now “sounds like an artifact of a long-ago age,” writes DeParle, because the “progressive vanguard” since then has been proposing a series of extreme policies that would move aside long-standing laws and policies and open wide the border.
DeParle catalogues the promises 2020 Democrats have made to immigration rights groups. Taken together they’re breathtaking:
- Decriminalize border crossing.
- Ban deportations.
- End detention.
- Abolish ICE – Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
- Provide undocumented immigrants universal health insurance.
- Provide free college.
- Expand school meals.
- Expand other safety net programs.
Adds DeParle:
“Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the progressive standard-bearer, likens detention facilities to “concentration camps.” Eight advocacy groups have released an immigration plan they call “Free to Move, Free to Stay,” a slogan that suggests no limits.
“… what’s notable about the progressives’ stance isn’t just the retreat on enforcement. It’s also the lack of an affirmative case for immigration — an argument for how it strengthens the economy, invigorates the culture and deepens ties to the world.”
Continue to article: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/philboas/2020/02/12/new-hampshire-primary-leaves-no-consensus-how-stop-trump/4601967002/
