Trump uses tragedy in Middle East to make case for hard-line immigration policies

Official White House Photo

It has been an incredibly tough week with the world reeling from the violence in the Middle East.  Sad but not surprising, we can expect politicians to try to capitalize on the tragedy.  This is especially the case during campaign season.

In his run for a return to the White House, Donald Trump is turning to his bread-and-butter of fomenting anti-immigrant sentiment.  CNN reports that "[i]n the wake of Hamas’ deadly attacks on Israel, former President Donald Trump is turning to a strategy he employed during the 2016 campaign of using terror abroad – and fears of future attacks on American soil – to push for hard-line immigration policies in the United States."  Trump is calling for bringing back his Muslim ban and claiming that Muslim terrorists are crossing the U.S./Mexico border.

Marianne LeVine and Meryl Kornfield for the Washington Post not that Trump recently has denigrated undocumented immigrants for “poisoning the blood of our country,” linking with drug and alcohol abuse "use and portraying them as dangerous threats to Americans, prompting widespread criticism and denunciations of racism and xenophobia from immigrant and civil rights groups. "  At a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the former president said: “These people are very aggressive: They drink, they have drugs, a lot of things happening.” In Dubuque, Iowa, he said: “It’s the blood of our country; what they’re doing is destroying our country.” 

 

 

KJ