When it comes to immigrants, what part of 'legal' does Trump not understand?
SAN DIEGO -- Never mind the undocumented. Donald Trump has a terribly complicated relationship with legal immigrants.
I'm not talking about the fact that he keeps marrying them, or that his in-laws -- legal immigrants Viktor and Amalija Knavs -- were sponsored for U.S. citizenship by their daughter, first lady Melania Trump.
And to think, Trump wants to end this kind of "chain migration" and replace it with a merit system that values education and skills. He may be on to something.
What's complicated is that, to borrow a phrase, Trump was in favor of legal immigration before he was against it. And boy, now he is really against it. In fact, he seems determined to punish anyone who dares come to the United States -- even if they come legally.
You've seen how hideously the Trump administration treats would-be refugees from Central America who play by the rules by walking up to the U.S.-Mexico border and turning themselves in to U.S. authorities. Some had their children snatched from them before being deported back home, and some of these kids remain in U.S. detention facilities.
Remember when Republicans were the party of family values?
Now the Trump administration is picking on legal immigrants who are already living in the United States, the vast majority of whom work and pay taxes. According to NBC News, the administration is hatching a proposal that would make it harder for these folks to become U.S. citizens or get green cards if at some point they relied on any sort of public-welfare program.
This scheme would reportedly represent the biggest change in how the United States handles legal immigration in several decades, and it seems to be part of the master plan devised by White House senior adviser Stephen Miller to reduce legal immigration.
What an insane idea. This country has a lot of problems, but legal immigration is not on the list. We tell people to play by the rules, then we change the rules?
A recent Gallup poll asked respondents: "Do you think legal immigration is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?"
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