Trump Makes Good on His Nativist Campaign Promises
President Trump is spending his first full week in office fulfilling his campaign promises to his nativist base. On Wednesday, he signed two executive orders during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security that together will require construction of a border wall, increased border patrol, intensified crackdowns on undocumented immigrants and withdrawal of federal funds to so-called sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.
Condemnation of the orders from immigration reform advocates and civil liberties groups has been swift and harsh. Thomas A. Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, calls the orders "alt-right, dog-whistle executive directives" that would have a "long-term cost to the soul and safety of our nation."
What's more, advocates say, the orders are a solution in search of a problem. Contrary to Trump's portrayal of a surge of undocumented immigrants crossing the border unabated, net migration from Mexico "is at its lowest point in history," says Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza. Building the wall, in addition to being ineffective, is a "grave symbolic error for a country that has always been a beacon of freedom to the world," she says.
Trump has further provoked a confrontation with Mexico by insisting that he can force it to pay for the wall – after American taxpayers have footed the bill. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has said Mexico will not, in fact, pay for the wall, announced Thursday morning that he had canceled a scheduled meeting at the White House next week.
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