ArcaMax

It's one thing to take a stand against illegal immigration because, as Trump said early in his campaign, without laws and borders, you don't have a country. But it's another thing to make it harder to immigrate legally. Legal immigration is something that most Americans support, and seem to agree isn't the real problem.

After all, if you argue that people have to follow the rules, how do you then turn around and penalize those who have done just that??

You'd be surprised. This conflating of legal and illegal immigration happens every day in the immigration debate, which has always been about keeping out not just the undocumented but foreigners in general.

For one thing, that's where the numbers are. There are, in the United States, more than three times as many foreign-born Americans (roughly 40 million) who are here legally as there are illegal immigrants (about 11 million).

Besides, some insist that legal immigration leads to more illegal immigration because people from other countries will try to join family members in the United States, even if they must do so illegally.

So, if what motivates you to take a hard line against immigration is a concern over the racial and ethnic composition of America, sooner or later you have to drop the pretense that you're only concerned with illegal immigrants and go after their legal brethren.

Accordingly, whereas Trump was initially worried only about illegal immigrants, he now wants to put obstacles in the way of some legal immigrants -- if they come from the wrong countries.

The GOP nominee brags about his intelligence. But you have to wonder: What part of "legal" does The Donald not understand?

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.

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