By Igor Volsky and Victoria Fleischer
After losing the 2012 presidential election, Republicans pledged to “embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform,” warning that if they ignore the issue, “our Party’s appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only.”
So what does the party’s presidential frontrunner propose for his very first policy? A plan to deport most of the 11.2 million undocumented immigrants, build a wall at the Mexico-U.S. border, and end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship! A growing number of Trump’s fellow presidential contenders have embraced this approach. We explain why it will never work.
Transcript:
IGOR VOLSKY, ThinkProgress: Donald Trump has an immigration plan that matches his hot rhetoric. The proposal works like this.
Number 1: Build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. To finance construction, Trump would increase fees on Mexican visas and impound remittances. But, cracking down on America’s 3rd largest trading partner would depress Mexico’s economy, undermining American businesses, and possibly sending more people north.
Number 2: Deport undocumented immigrants. Okay! But even if the government could afford the $620 billion price tag of sending back 11.2 million undocumented immigrants, doing so would tear apart communities and significantly cripple the agricultural, construction and hospitality industries, shrinking the nation’s labor force by 6.4%
Number 3: Ending birthright citizenship. This move would require changing the Constitution’s 14th Amendment and the Department of Homeland Security would have to peer into every delivery room to ensure that parents have documentation and that all new births are properly registered. One study estimates that parents would have to pay a birth tax of $600 per child to prove citizenship.
Now, Trump doesn’t stand along. Aspects of his immigration plan have been embraced by fellow GOP contenders: Bobby Jindal, Scott Walker, Rick Santorum, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Lindsay Graham — oh! And late addition, Ted Cruz.
After the 2012 presidential election, Republicans wanted to avoid a big immigration fight. Thanks to Trump, it’s no longer the elephant in the room.