President Trump Must Clamp Down on Immigration Now

TUCSON, Ariz. – Ajo Station Border Patrol agents encountered a group of 128 illegal aliens several miles west of the Lukeville Port.
Photo provided by: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

As David Bier writes for the Cato Institute, the recently elected Democratic House of Representatives is the most-pro-immigration House to ever sit. No help in defending Americans from the wave of illegal immigration will come from the Democrats, whether led by Nancy Pelosi or anyone else. It is time from President Trump to redouble his efforts via the executive branch by clamping down on immigration now. Bier writes:

The House of Representatives is now the most pro-immigrant that it has been since the 19th century.

Current House Democrats would not only pass the broadest legalization in the history of the United States—they also would greatly expand legal immigration. No elected House Democrat is opposed to legalization, even if they would want it paired with some enforcement measures.

The last Democratic House from 2007 to 2010 did pass the Dream Act for a very small portion of the illegal population—only a subset of the Dreamers qualified—but it didn’t even reach a majority of the House (216, not 218, voted yes). House leadership lost 38 “blue dog” Democrats and got the votes of just five Republicans. Today, the Dream Act would easily pass the House with more than a dozen Republicans voting for it, even after moderate-Republican losses.

House Democrats today would not just protect every expansive immigration measure enacted from 1965 to 1990—they would greatly build upon them if they could reasonably expect them to be signed into law.

The starting place for reform for them is the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, H.R. 15, a version of which the Senate had passed. At the time, every House Democrat except two cosponsored the legislation.

The bill would legalize more than 8 million illegal residents and at least double permanent legal immigration.