The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics by Steve Benen

Author:Steve Benen [Benen, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780063026506
Google: XpDCDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-06-15T23:00:00+00:00

To be sure, there have been daunting challenges at the border for many years, but none would be substantively addressed by building giant concrete slabs or installing giant steel slats, which is probably why practically no one from either party pushed the idea before Trump took office. Nevertheless, if the president had been serious about the endeavor, he could have done what most other presidents have done for generations: try to make a deal with the lawmakers who have the power of the purse, offering them concessions in exchange for achieving his priority.

Trump didn’t know how to do that; aides in the West Wing didn’t even trust him to try to negotiate competently with Democrats who might exploit his ignorance. And so a more radical approach, untethered to real governing, took shape.

Trump’s first maneuver was to target a group of young immigrants, known as Dreamers, who entered the country illegally as children, usually accompanied by their families. The group got its name from the Dream (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act: a bipartisan compromise bill crafted in 2001 to help these immigrants become American citizens. As the GOP shifted to the hard right, the party abandoned the legislation, deeming it a Democratic priority.

The Obama administration protected Dreamers though a policy called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which shielded them from deportation and allowed them to work and study in the United States through temporary permits.

As a candidate, Trump promised to end DACA and deport the kids, though, as with most issues, he gave no indication of having given the matter much thought.53 As a president-elect, the Republican’s line softened, saying, “We’re going to work something out that’s going to make people happy and proud. . . . They got brought here at a very young age, they’ve worked here, they’ve gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs.”54

And as president, Trump said in April 2017 that the Dreamers could “rest easy” about his agenda, telling the Associated Press that he was “not after the Dreamers, we are after the criminals.” He added, “That is our policy.”55

Five months later, Trump abandoned that policy and rescinded Dreamers’ legal protections. For these hundreds of thousands of young people for whom the United States has been the only home they’ve ever known, the administration’s announcement was a nightmare come to life. They were already part of the American fabric—from soldiers to students, workers to homeowners—who were suddenly confronted with the threat of deportation for reasons the president lacked the ability to explain.

But on top of the cruelty were the widespread concerns that the president had no meaningful understanding of the implications of his own decision. The New York Times reported, “As late as one hour before the decision was to be announced, administration officials privately expressed concern that Mr. Trump might not fully grasp the details of the steps he was about to take.”56

Nevertheless, the White House created a six-month window in which the president expected lawmakers

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