Trump is right about immigration

Letter date: 
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Letter publisher: 
East Oregonian
Letter author: 
David Olen Cross
Letter body: 

Donald Trump of New York, billionaire real estate developer and current Republican candidate for president, made campaign kickoff remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico deserves some serious examination: “The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with them. ... They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists,” he said, adding, “And some, I assume, are good people.”

Why would Mr. Trump, a man who was born in Queens, New York, who surely visited in his 69 years Liberty Island, home of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, make such remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico?

I can’t claim to know the heart of the Donald Trump, but I will speculate on Trump’s views on illegal immigrants.

Trump most likely has taken the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty and while touring the Statue site he must have read the bronze plaque cast with 1883 sonnet written by Emma Lazarus titled “The New Colossus.”

Trump after reading Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” would know as a student of circumstantial current and past immigration history that immigrants entering Upper New York Bay metaphorically by boat is the legitimate gateway to America while 5.9 million illegal Mexican immigrants sneaking across the country’s southern border with Mexico violate federal law and invade the nation’s sovereignty.

Donald Trump in preparation for his candidacy for President of the United States very likely knows that the U.S Federal Bureau of Prisons holds 33,108 Mexican nationals, they are 15.9 percent of the federal government’s prison inmates.

Furthermore, Trump is also likely aware that there are 18,307 federal prisoners incarcerated for immigration crimes, 9.3 percent of the federal prison population.

Recently, Trump met with families of victims of illegal immigrant crime in California; Trump knows the life-changing impact on families who have lost their loved ones killed by illegal immigrants primarily from Mexico.

American’s should thank Donald Trump for speaking so frankly on the topic of illegal immigration and for making it one of the top campaign issues in the 2016 presidential election.