President Donald Trump has already walked back his stated desire to reach a deal with Democrats to give legal status to millions of illegal immigrants. But Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is still pushing Congress to pass what can only be called an amnesty for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients.
Before this does any permanent damage, the administration needs to realize, first, that immigration is not why Republicans lost; it is still the Republicans’ best issue. Second, no good deal can be reached with Democrats on amnesty.
Trump’s post-election 60 Minutes interview was not the first time he has floated the idea of a deal with Democrats on immigration. In 2017, he claimed that he and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who was minority leader at the time, were close to giving DACA recipients legal status in exchange for border security funding, but nothing came of it. The next year, the White House released a plan that not only would have given DACA recipients citizenship but also tripled the size of the program. That, too, went nowhere.
Given that history, Trump’s latest overture to Democrats on 60 Minutes was hardly surprising. What was notable, however, was how quickly he reversed himself. The next day, the president came to the White House press briefing room and gave an impromptu press conference, during which he said unequivocally, “There won’t be amnesty. Somebody suggested, ‘Will there be amnesty?’ No, but — they came in. They knew the law.”
Mullin, however, has made it clear in various settings that he is actively working with Democrats on the status of DACA recipients. “We’re never going to allow amnesty to happen,” Mullin told reporters, but added, “If we want to have an immigration reform to where we can look at DACA and figure out a way that these individuals can become maybe legal permanent citizens or something like this, that’ll be up to Congress.”
It is doubtful that Democrats would accept anything less than citizenship for DACA recipients, but even if they did, it would be a disaster for Republicans and for the country.
Trump’s immigration policies played no role in Republican losses last week. If anything, exit polls show immigration was the Republican Party’s best issue, including among Latinos. Immigration was named a top issue by just 14% of voters, and of those who named it, 89% voted Republican.
That does not mean the administration’s enforcement efforts have been flawless. Former DHS Sec. Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander-at-Large Gregory Bovino made many mistakes before Trump replaced them in January. They seemed to enjoy terrorizing communities with flashy announcements and personnel deployments instead of professionally and discreetly doing their jobs. But they are gone now, and White House border czar Tom Homan has done an excellent job setting a more responsible and effective course.
But giving DACA recipients amnesty would not make Homan’s job easier, help secure the border, or quench the Democratic Party’s thirst for wider amnesty. A quick examination of history shows why.
When President Barack Obama first announced DACA as a sop to Latino voters in 2012, it was limited to illegal immigrants who could prove they were under 16 when they entered the country before 2007. Those who arrived in 2008 were out of luck. When Obama first announced the program, Pew estimated that 1.7 million would qualify, but only about 700,000 ultimately received protection.
Fast-forward to 2018, when Trump announced his plan to give DACA recipients citizenship and bumped that 2007 Obama cutoff up to 2012, which would have added more than a million illegal immigrants to the program. If Trump were to cut a DACA amnesty deal with Democrats today, what would the cutoff be? Can Mullin be considering amnesty for millions of minors who entered during the Biden administration?
If not, when would the cutoff be? Would it be 2021, and if so, is Mullin committing to working as hard as possible to deport every minor brought into the country during Biden’s presidency? How is an illegal immigrant who entered illegally in 2020 any more or less morally entitled to legal protection than one who entered in 2021?
EDITORIAL: DEMOCRATS CAN’T LOWER GAS PRICES BY HANDING HORMUZ TO IRAN
The problem with any amnesty proposal — and despite what Mullin says, any policy that treats illegal immigrants differently because of an arbitrary cutoff date is an amnesty — is that the cutoff is never credible. Trump has secured the border, but he is the only president in history to do so. Past Republican presidents have failed to secure the border, and Democratic presidents don’t even try.
After Trump leaves office, illegal immigrants will again cross the southern border with the intention of staying. Giving any illegal immigrant in the country amnesty will signal to those thinking about coming tomorrow that they will eventually get amnesty, too. That is why amnesty will never be the answer for Republicans.