Thus, alarms were sounding after this article claiming Trump is going to flip-flop on the immigration issue.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump plans to present an immigration plan in Colorado Thursday that will include finding a way to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants, according to three people who attended a meeting between the candidate and Hispanic leaders on Saturday at Trump Tower in New York.Trump has always been vague on exactly what he is going to do beyond building the the Trump wall. Obviously, his immigration platform itself is great. But Trump has occasionally given the impression he hasn't studied his own platform. And he's also said he's going to have a "big, beautiful door" in the wall and let "the good ones" stay. This could be defined as anyone who isn't actually a felon."I really liked that Trump acknowledged that there is a big problem with the 11 million [undocumented] people who are here, and that deporting them is neither possible nor humane,” said Jacob Monty, a Texas immigration lawyer who attended the meeting.
If true, Trump's plan would stand in sharp contrast to his previous statements about immigrants during the campaign. During the primaries, the New York property tycoon promised to build a wall along the border with Mexico and to deport all undocumented immigrants.
[Trump now says he plans to legalize some undocumented immigrants, by Eduardo Suarez, Univision, August 20, 2016]
On the other hand, personnel is policy. And Donald Trump has been endorsed by Jeff Sessions, has Stephen Miller on his staff, and now has Steve Bannon running his campaign. So I regarded this article with skepticism.
Sure enough, Breitbart is denying the report.
A senior staffer at the Republican National Committee (RNC) told Breitbart News Saturday GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump did not say or suggest that he was open to granting any legal status–amnesty–to any illegal aliens in the United States at his campaign’s National Hispanic Advisory Council meeting as reported in BuzzFeed and Univision.Conway also said a Deportation Force and mass deportation are "to be determined" [Trump campaign manager: A deportation force TBD, by Tal Kopan, CNN, August 21, 2016] The press is trying to present this as a reversal, but it really isn't. Indeed, "forced mass deportation," though it would certainly be justified, is a bit of a straw man. A number of basic measures would promote attrition through enforcement, or "self-deportation," as even Mitt Romney once said.“Mr. Trump did not say he was in favor of legalization,” said Helen Aguirre-Ferre, who joined the RNC staff to help coordinate outreach to the Hispanic community and act as the GOP Hispanic communications director. Aguirre-Ferre told Breitbart News that she is Hispanic, but not a member of the advisory council. Her role was to help arrange the meeting and attend on behalf of the RNC.
Anyone at the meeting, held at Trump Tower, who got the impression that Trump had changed his position on foreigners in the United States illegally misinterpreted his remarks, she said.
“What Mr. Trump said was very clear,” she said. “Some folks talked about legalization, not citizenship, for the undocumented, Mr. Trump did not say he was in favor of legalization. Some folks may have felt that he was open to it–and he gave zero indication of that.”
Aguirre-Ferre’s debunking of the reports in both BuzzFeed and Univision is an embarrassment to both progressive outlets, and echoes what the Trump campaign has said.
[Exclusive – RNC Official at Trump’s Hispanic Meeting Debunks False BuzzFeed, Univision Reports that Donald Succumbed to Amnesty Activists, by Neil McCabe, August 21, 2016]
There's no Trump Betrayal on immigration and this is an obvious effort at disinformation by the Lying Press. Everyone calm down. Cautious optimism is the best way to view everything right now.
Still, we should keep our eyes on next week. As a general rule, no politician can be trusted. And Donald Trump is now a politician. Of course, there is no alternative for immigration patriots as the Democratic Party has become fanatically pro-amnesty and flooding American with Third Worlders seems to be Gary Johnson's top issue after legalizing weed.
But Trump should always feel the pressure from his right. Don't trust and always verify.