Trump’s new migrants plan could backfire
AN IDEA floated by US President Donald Trump to send immigrants from the border to “sanctuary cities” to exact revenge on Democratic foes could end up doing the migrants a favour by placing them in locations that make it easier to put down roots and stay in the country.
The plan would put thousands of immigrants in cities that were not only welcoming to them, but also more likely to rebuff federal officials carrying out deportation orders.
Many of these locations have more resources to help immigrants make their legal cases to stay in the US than smaller cities, with some of the nation’s biggest immigration advocacy groups based in places like San Francisco, New York City and Chicago. The downside for the immigrants would be a high cost of living in the cities.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University announced this week that an analysis found that immigrants in sanctuary cities such as New York and Los Angeles were 20% less likely to be arrested than those in cities without such policies.
“With immigrants being less likely to commit crimes than the US-born population, and with sanctuary jurisdictions being safer and more productive than non-sanctuary jurisdictions, the data damns this proposal as a politically motivated stunt that seeks to play politics with peoples’ lives,” said George Gascon, district attorney for San Francisco.
Trump has grown frustrated over the situation at the border, where thousands of immigrant families were crossing each month, many to claim asylum. His administration has tried several methods to stop the flow, and he recently shook up the top ranks of the Department of Homeland Security.
The idea to ship immigrants to Democratic strongholds was considered twice in recent months, but the White House and Department of Homeland Security said the plan had been rejected. But Trump said on Friday he was still considering the idea.
“Due to the fact that Democrats are unwilling to change our very dangerous immigration laws, we are indeed, as reported, giving strong considerations to placing Illegal Immigrants in Sanctuary Cities only,” Trump tweeted. He added that, “The Radical Left always seems to have an Open Borders, Open Arms policy – so this should make them very happy!”
The transportation of immigrants who are arrested at the border to large and faraway cities would be burdensome and costly at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement is already stretched thin, having released over 125 000 immigrants into the country pending their immigration court since December 21. THE ARMED forces of Algeria and Sudan, which pushed out the long-serving rulers of those countries after mass protests, are following a script that has failed millions of Arabs since the 2011 uprisings.
Those “Arab Spring” upheavals raised hopes of political and economic reform in countries like Egypt, where the army watched patiently from the sidelines and then capitalised on the turmoil to widen its influence.
“What I think caused a lot of the uprisings in 2011 and what’s causing them today in Sudan and Algeria is the politics of deception: when the president says I won by 85% or 99% at the polls, but wherever you go everyone disapproves of him,” said Mohammed Alyahya, a Saudi political analyst and editor-in-chief of Al Arabiya English.
“That can be viable when you have robust economic development. But if you don’t have that and you’re not granting people political and civil rights, then you’re essentially giving them nothing but repression.”
Sudan appears to be following the Egyptian model, after long-serving leader Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in a military coup last week after sustained protests. Crowds had gathered outside the Ministry of Defence to ask the army to help them topple Bashir.
The new head of Sudan’s military council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Abdelrahman, said on Saturday that a civilian government would be formed after consultations with the opposition.
He had just succeeded the officer who announced Bashir’s arrest, Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf, who stepped down as head of the military council after only a day in the face of demands for a civilian government.
Protesters, however, kept up the pressure for change.
“The biggest blunder was the hope that the army would be an ally,” said Sudanese commentator Magdi El Gizouli.
Any future civilian leader in Sudan or Algeria needs the support of the army, while also facing huge economic and political challenges.