Trump’s immigration policy

President Trump recently released a detailed immigration policy position paper that walks through exactly what steps he would take as president to help American workers, according to his press office.

The paper—which really constitutes a completely new look at immigration and a complete overhaul of the current system, politicians’ priorities, and special interest involvement—starts with three principles.

Firstly, Trump argues, “a nation without borders is not a nation.”

As such, he writes, “there must be a wall across the southern border.”

Secondly, Trump argues, “a nation without laws is not a nation.”

“Laws passed in accordance with our constitutional system of government must be enforced,” he writes as part of his second principle.

Thirdly, Trump argues, “a nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation.”

“Any immigration plan must improve jobs, wages and security for all Americans,” he writes to flesh out the third principle.

“The paper, which was clearly influenced by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) who Trump consulted to help with immigration policy, contains three major parts: How a President Trump would handle border security, interior enforcement, and legal immigration policy as it relates to getting Americans—at historically low workforce participation rates right now—back to work. Perhaps most importantly, Trump uses the term “immigration reform” to describe what he will do—taking that term away from those who use it to push for fundamental transformation of the United States with immigration policy.

“When politicians talk about ‘immigration reform’ they mean: amnesty, cheap labor and open borders,” Trump writes. “The Schumer-Rubio immigration bill was nothing more than a giveaway to the corporate patrons who run both parties. Real immigration reform puts the needs of working people first—not wealthy globetrotting donors. We are the only country in the world whose immigration system puts the needs of other nations ahead of our own. That must change.”

The plan details not just that Trump believes in putting “American workers first” over the interest of foreign workers, foreign nations, and special interests, but how he would do so. Trump is the first and only presidential candidate this cycle who has done this and gone into this level of policy detail.

“Decades of disastrous trade deals and immigration policies have destroyed our middle class,” Trump’s position paper reads. “Today, nearly 40 percent of black teenagers are unemployed. Nearly 30 percent of Hispanic teenagers are unemployed. For black Americans without high school diplomas, the bottom has fallen out: more than 70 percent were employed in 1960, compared to less than 40 percent in 2000. Across the economy, the percentage of adults in the labor force has collapsed to a level not experienced in generations. As CBS News wrote in a piece titled “America’s incredible shrinking middle class”: ‘If the middle-class is the economic backbone of America, then the country is developing osteoporosis.’”

Trump writes that the “influx of foreign workers holds down salaries, keeps unemployment high, and makes it difficult for poor and working-class Americans—including immigrants themselves and their children—to earn a middle class wage” and that about “half of all immigrants and their U.S.-born children currently live in or near poverty, including more than 60 percent of Hispanic immigrants.”

“Every year, we voluntarily admit another 2 million new immigrants, guest workers, refugees, and dependents, growing our existing all-time historic record population of 42 million immigrants,” Trump writes. “We need to control the admission of new low-earning workers in order to: help wages grow, get teenagers back to work, aid minorities’ rise into the middle class, help schools and communities falling behind, and to ensure our immigrant members of the national family become part of the American dream.

“Additionally, we need to stop giving legal immigrant visas to people bent on causing us harm. From the 9/11 hijackers, to the Boston bombers, and many others, our immigration system is being used to attack us. The President of the immigration caseworkers union declared in a statement on ISIS: ‘We’ve become the visa clearinghouse for the world.’”

Trump calls for a “halt to the issuance of new green cards until Americans are back to work.

“Before any new green cards are issued to foreign workers abroad, there will be a pause where employers will have to hire from the domestic pool of unemployed immigrant and native workers,” Trump wrote in a section of the paper called “immigration moderation,” an area where he cites U.S. Census Bureau data and information from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Definitely, the planned policy would adversely affect the NMI and other territories.