Arizona’s Summers are Hot enough – We Don’t Need Overheated Rhetoric!
The Bloviator-in-Chief, Donald Trump, is coming to town this weekend to bathe Arizonans in his overheated rhetoric which only speaks to about a third of the Republican Primary voting electorate.
The media, however, is playing along with the Manhattan-based carnival act and even the Republican Chairman, Reince Priebus has been trumped into asking the star of the Apprentice to “tone it down.”
Last November, we posted survey results on our blog which show that 51.5% of LIKELY ARIZONA REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS, support comprehensive immigration reform.
Q: Do you support or oppose comprehensive immigration reform?
22.5% Definitely Oppose
7.5% Probably Oppose
19.0% Probably Support
32.5% Definitely Support
18.5% Don’t Know, Refused
Additionally, in the same survey, we also found that the 77% OF REPUBLICAN PRIMARY VOTERS supported the “Gang of 8” proposal, from which the President has borrowed several concepts in his own reform package. Here is what we tested:
Q: Would you support an immigration reform policy that would secure the border with more agents, fencing and technology; crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants; provide a 10 year waiting time to apply to become a lawful permanent resident, but NOT citizenship; and develop a system to issue temporary visas for limited periods for both high and low skilled workers where jobs are not being filled?
10.0% Definitely No
5.8% Probably No
34.0% Probably Yes
43.0% Definitely Yes
7.3% Don’t Know, Refused
Since 2010, there has been remarkable progress in securing our Southern border. The current Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has devoted his time, energy and our taxpayer dollars to seeing that the border is as secure as it ever has been. And it is.
To be sure, ICE needs to do a much better job of deporting known violent criminals and keeping Americans safe. Terrible tragedies, like the murder of American citizens by known violent illegal immigrants, must be stopped.
However, these concerns should not dissuade us from addressing the bigger underlying issue – the culture of lawlessness that pervades Mexico and Central America. Illegal immigration cannot just be treated solely as a Homeland Security issue – it is also a foreign relations issue.
A little over a year ago, we noted that the New York Times Editorial Board (Trump’s hometown paper) spent over 1,800 words analyzing the President’s foreign policy approach. The analysis highlighted Syria, the Ukraine, and the Middle East (the Greek Debt crisis hadn’t appeared over their Eurocentric horizon yet).
Looking back, the East Coast media and the Bloviator-in-Chief have something in common – they only pay attention to Mexico and Central America when it is convenient for them.
As we said, the fact that Mexico and Central/South America don’t even register as a minor component of the NYT’s foreign policy outlook is not only a tribute to East Coast elitism and snobbery, but it is also a clear message they don’t really consider these countries as important, strategic global issues for the United States.
To be fair, the Donald doesn’t consider them important either, just a post-colonial outpost for his next golf course development. Listening to the Donald is a lot like eating iceberg lettuce – it may fill you up, but it has absolutely no nutritional value.
It is time for true leaders to step to the front of the stage and articulate how our relationship with Mexico is the most relevant foreign policy challenge facing our nation today. Mexico-U.S. relations can no longer stand as a colonialist-era leftover.
So far, Governor Doug Ducey has worked to fill the void of leadership, recently leading a trade mission to Mexico to promote economic development between our two nations. His substantive ideas on transportation and trade are a great start to reframing the issue, but he needs support from our state’s congressional delegation as well.
Fortunately, our two U.S. Senators have offered substantive solutions, but our Arizona House members are too busy voting to repeal Obamacare for the 60th time to notice!
We need our political leaders to start addressing immigration as an opportunity to enact critical infrastructure improvements that will improve trade and raise the economic development of both the U.S. and Mexico. We must have candidates who will dare to make the case that improving the economy of Mexico through better transportation and customs practices would be a win-win for both countries.
And we really would like an honest broker who will talk about Mexico’s outrageous income disparity between the richest of the rich and those who travel thousands of miles across dangerous terrain to find low-wage jobs here.
Does anyone think that Donald Trump fits that bill?
So, as the circus comes to town this weekend, let’s not all get carried all the way back to 2010.
Let’s ask our elected officials how we can improve security on our Southern border while simultaneously acting on immigration reform measures that provide greater security for the people of this country and greater economic opportunity for the citizens of Mexico, Central and South America.
It should be a requirement of the next President of the United States to demand that Mexico, Central and South America implement efforts to democratize their economies, create opportunities for its own citizens, and mature into the trading partner and ally that American and Arizona surely needs.
Let’s hope the voters of Arizona understand that and tell the Donald one last thing – “You’re Fired!”