Trump thinks fear of immigrants will help get him the dictatorial power he craves. Is he wrong? It has gotten him far ever since he cut his teeth on birtherism and entered presidential politics on the golden escalator. Copycat Trump thinks he is onto a good thing. He may be evil, pandering to racism, the darkest side of humans, but he is not mistaken. It worked for others, too, to consolidate dictatorial power, especially those he admires like Viktor Orban of Hungary, Erdogan of Turkey, and Putin, as well. It is not in his interest to see a solution as the bi-partisan bill would have done. Instead, he continues to rant about the dangerous immigrants flooding into the country while destroying the funding and the ability to screen them the bill provided when he demanded the MAGA House members declare the bill DOA. Every one of those so dangerous immigrants who jump the river is on him from here on. Any thinking person should recognize that racist ranting is what it is...racist pandering to other racists..and a cynical campaign tactic.
When Orban visits Mar-A-Lago within a few days, and the two exchange trade secrets, the languages may translate, but the countries are very different. Orban's advice may work for Hungary about how to become a dictator by appealing to racist nationalists in a country that is 97% ethnic Magyar, while in the US the white population is under 60% and a significant number of them are not racist white supremacists. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/hungarys-viktor-orban-to-visit-former-president-donald-trump-at-florida-home-next-week#:
https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2022/08/cpac-cheers-white-nationalist-dictator.html
https://mufticforumblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/viktor-orban-dangerous-role-model-for.html
Sure we have an immigration problem, a broken system that is so dysfunctional, that jumping the river is an act of desperation by those fleeing violence and hopeless poverty. What we need is not a racist, anti-brown, White Nationalist, policy and slamming the door shut on all immigrants. Be careful what you wish. The unintended consequences are profound. What we need is sanity, a system that works as designed now, that conforms to our national ideals, ones that are not based on fear and hate. Trump just killed one that would have taken us there and funded it.
We have a political leader whose main platform is hatred and fear-mongering. Many who are ignorant or paranoid or racist do easily believe immigrants are what Trump calls them, rapists, murderers, poisoning our blood (pure Nazi words), and escapees from an insane asylum. Immigrants have a 30% lower incarceration rate than nonimmigrants. https://siepr.stanford.edu/news/mythical-tie-between-immigration-and-crime Be afraid of them is his motto he tries to ride the same driver of hatred of immigrants and others different from his supporters.
It is that fear factor ginned up by power-hungry demagogues that fueled the rise of modern-day dictators like Viktor Orban (fear of Syrian refugees), Erdogan (fear of Kurds), and Putin (Chechnya. Breslan School siege, and hyper Russian Orthodox nationalism) and historical ones like Hitler. (Hatred of Jews). Once in power, they stay in power as they use their newfound power to destroy even further any chance of democracy surviving or reviving.. In each of these cases, fear of others not of their pure blood or religion gave them the ability to convince fellow citizens to give up their form of democracy and their own personal civil rights to seek salvation in a "strong man", "autocrat'. a "dictator". In each of these cases, once these wannabe modern dictators got into office, destroyed immigration or subdued immigrants, they also seized and amassed power, feathered their nests, and kept power once the "crisis" was over. They remain in office until this very day. In Hitler's case, his militaristic economy and society ended in rubble and his own life came to an end in a Berlin bunker. Copycat Trump thinks he is onto a good thing. Those who put their faith in some strong man because of fear of immigrants were a bunch of fools who have been played successfully by power-seeking demagogues.
What we need is a sane immigration system that recognizes and administers immigration laws, well funded, with the capability to execute the laws that set priorities and screen immigrants desiring to enter the US. That sanity was contained in the Senate version of border security laws which House Speaker Johnson declared DOA under the orders of Donald Trump. If the Senate version had passed, Trump would have lost his best sales pitch, to keep the chaos flaming on the front burner so "only he could fix it". . His promise: he would round up and put into concentration camps at least nine million for processing the deportation of the undocumented, even those who were not rapists, or murderers, but otherwise law-abiding, moms, dads, and DACA kids. Expect even those with green cards and citizenship who look Hispanic to be stopped and questioned or produce their documents. The racial profiling and trampling of rights would be epic.
This is in addition to the historical and moral history of the US, a nation of immigrants, who have brought innovation, talent, and the storied work ethic of immigrants and first-generation and beyond descendants.
One of my puzzles is why south Florida immigrants are so attracted to Trump, who calls their countries of origin sh... ho.. countries and immigrants from them are poisoning the blood of Americans. Why would Venezuelans want to trade a dictatorship like Maduro for another dictator like Trump? It seems like such racism would be a turnoff, but it is not. In fact, his anti-immigrant posture is OK for those already in the US because it must not seem as if it is aimed at them but at those at the southern border. I have always thought there was an element of class in the Venezuelan Miami community, having had some conversations with them in the early 2000s' in international clubs as we awaited plane changes to the Caribbean. The first refugees were the middle and upper classes fleeing the Chavez/Maduro regime, and the more recent ones were the young and lower classes. Jose Diaz-Balart shed some light on it on MSNBC in interviews 4 4 2024 with current Miami immigrants, many with family ties back in their country of origin. They are angry that the Biden administration has not done more to come down harder on the Cuban, Madoro, and other bad actor regimes; they have ignored these troubled countries, and they also fear the influx of the less desirable into their communities. They relate to Trump's characterization of the immigrants at the border now and do not see it as a reflection of their race or ethnic origin.
Beslan school attack | Siege, Massacre, & Aftermath | Britannica Putin used this to consolidate his power.
Kurds fear Erdogan win amid sharper nationalist rhetoric | Reuters Erdogan has used anti-Kurd rhetoric to gain and consolidate his dictatorship.
Hungary election: Who is Viktor Orban and how has he stayed in power for so long? | Euronews
https://siepr.stanford.edu/news/mythical-tie-between-immigration-and-crime
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