Musings on Immigration

The second of two Executive Orders on Immigration, " Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States ” appears to be intended to fulfill Trump's Radical Anti-Immigration pledge to "fully" enforce U.S. Immigration law.  Just curious as to when he will "fully" enforce U.S. Tax Law, or U.S. criminal law, both of which would have far greater benefits to the American economy and society than targeting immigrants.  Remember, Immigrants are the canary in the coal mine.  Let's take a look at what Trump has ordered the executive branch to do.   1.  Trump is eliminating former President Obama's "Enforcement Priorities" memo, which had limited the deportation efforts of ICE to individuals convicted of felonies, serious misdemeanors (like DUI), and to recent arrivals (those ordered deported after January 1, 2014).  Trump now expands the "   Enforcement Priorities" to include letter of the law enforcement.  But Trump's I...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 25, 2017, outlining a series of actions he directs the DHS, DOJ and related agencies to take in regards to internal enforcement of U.S. immigration law and to border security.  Many of these actions are already part of federal law, but many others will require congressional approval and appropriation of funds to carry out.   Much of what President Trump did today in this specific Executive Order (not the one on visa processing and refugees), will have an immediate impact on people's lives, but will not do anything to solve the problem of a broken immigration system. Here is what this Order does: 1.  Calls for planning, designing and constructing a wall on our international border with Mexico. This will require extensive funding from Congress (e.g. the American Taxpayer) for the immediate cost of about $25 Billion Dollars (give or take a few billion).   He also called for maintaining the wall (more billi...