Photo credit: Gage Skidmore
Unless you’ve gone into a complete media blackout you’ve heard that President Donald Trump allegedly made when talking about a bipartisan immigration deal with members of Congress that would continue the Delayed Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
The Washington Post first reported:
President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they discussed protecting immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to several people briefed on the meeting.
“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to countries mentioned by the lawmakers.
Trump then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries such as Norway, whose prime minister he met with Wednesday. The president, according to a White House official, also suggested he would be open to more immigrants from Asian countries because he felt that they help the United States economically.
In addition, the president singled out Haiti, telling lawmakers that immigrants from that country must be left out of any deal, these people said.
“Why do we need more Haitians?” Trump said, according to people familiar with the meeting. “Take them out.”
Trump has denied making those remarks but said he talked “tough” about immigration. He tweeted today:
The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made – a big setback for DACA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Ok, if he didn’t use this language, what was the “tough” language he used?
I have a tough time believing that he didn’t say that because, honestly, it seems like something he would say.
The comment was utterly inappropriate and completely unpresidential.
So, in other words, it was a Thursday for a president who has turned saying inappropriate and unpresidential things into an art form.
I don’t care to comment on every remark he makes because I simply don’t have the time or inclination to do that. I do want to make a couple remarks in response to this.
If he truly said this, and I’m pretty confident he did, his statement targets all immigrants and descendants of immigrants who came from countries deemed “shitholes” by the leader of the free world.
I don’t deny that a number of countries where illegal and legal immigrants come from are less than desirable due to corruption, poverty, or despotism. It doesn’t matter.
As Christians, we understand that people have dignity and worth regardless of their country of origin. People come here because they seek out a future, to improve their lot in life, because the United States, as President Ronald Reagan once put it, is a shining city on a hill. President Trump’s comments malign that truth.
Congresswoman Mia Love (R-UT), the child of Haitian immigrants, issued a statement yesterday that was spot on.
The President’s comments are unkind, divisive, elitist, and fly in the face of our nation’s values. This behavior is unacceptable from the leader of our nation. My parents came from one of those countries but proudly took an oath of allegiance to the United States and took on the responsibilities of everything that comes with being a citizen. They never took a thing from our federal government. They worked hard, paid taxes, and rose from nothing to take care of and provide opportunities for their children. They taught their children to do the same. That’s the American Dream. The President must apologize to both the American people and the nations he so wantonly maligned.
President Trump should apologize, but I’m not going to hold my breath as this President likes taking all of the credit, but none of the blame.
As far as I’m concerned, I welcome hardworking immigrants who pursue the American dream. Where they come from matters far less to me than what they seek to contribute.