On Immigration…Who Said That?

Posted by Tina

Donald Trumps statements on immigration have caused heads to explode. The level of outrage is extraordinary. How dare he suggest we enforce our laws? How dare he suggest we have the right, indeed and obligation, to be choosy about who we allow into our country? How dare he speak in negative terms about people illegally crossing and recrossing our borders even when are dangerous criminals and drug and human traffickers…“it’s just not who we are!”

Or is it?

All it takes to see how radically the Democrat Party has changed it’s character and message is to take a look back sixteen years when the leader of the Democrat party had the following to say about immigration:

All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers. That’s why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens. In the budget I will present to you, we will try to do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes, to better identify illegal aliens in the workplace as recommended by the commission headed by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.

The American people were “rightly disturbed by the large number of illegal aliens,” said President Clinton. No one called him a racist. No one thought he was bigoted or mean spirited. No one thought he spoke in opposition to “who we are.” In fact we could see the reason and logic behind his statements.

Bill Clinton’s 1995 State of the Union address followed on the heels of the 1994 historical election of Newt Gingrich Republicans and the Contract With America. Republicans had not held the House of Representatives in forty years.

Bill Clinton deserves credit for listening to the voice of the people and shifting his positions to work with the newly elected Congress. He deserves credit for seeing the value in enforcing our immigration laws and curtailing illegal entry to our nation. He deserves credit for seeing the value in protecting the American people and promoting jobs for Americans first. In fact, the address is well worth a full read. Bill Clinton’s positions on welfare, the size of government, law enforcement, and more shifted to track with the Republican platform showing that the two major party’s leaders could work together. It also demonstrated that the ideas and ideals we share as Americans cross political lines. America is NOT systemically racist or lacking in compassion but neither will we be trampled on because of our compassion, freedom, and rights.

Immigration policy is even more important today with the threat of ISIS infiltrators and drug and human trafficking and related crimes spilling across our borders. The need for unity has never been more sorely needed. It’s time to put the divisive politics of the radical Obama Democrats behind us. Donald Trumps immigration policy is not extreme or racist; it is responsible and reasonable. It’s time to put Donald Trump at the helm; it’s time to move forward to make America strong again.

Hat Tip Dr. Ben Carson