11-02-2018, 12:19 AM
What Trump is doing is not a case of cracking down on 'illegal immigration'.
Traveling from Central America through Mexico to apply for asylum at an authorized U.S. border port is not illegal.
If it were, Trump and company could deploy police officers to the border, arrest all of the migrants immediately for illegal entry (misdemeanor), and either deport them immediately or prosecute them.
Trump's rhetoric and threats aren't aimed exclusively at the minority of the caravan migrants who try to cross at unauthorized border points, which would be 'illegal immigration'.
His rhetoric and threats are aimed at all of the migrants, most of whom are simultaneously exercising their legal and human rights under U.S. and International law. So, Trump is primarily targeting 'legal immigration'.
Traveling from Central America through Mexico to apply for asylum at an authorized U.S. border port is not illegal.
If it were, Trump and company could deploy police officers to the border, arrest all of the migrants immediately for illegal entry (misdemeanor), and either deport them immediately or prosecute them.
Trump's rhetoric and threats aren't aimed exclusively at the minority of the caravan migrants who try to cross at unauthorized border points, which would be 'illegal immigration'.
His rhetoric and threats are aimed at all of the migrants, most of whom are simultaneously exercising their legal and human rights under U.S. and International law. So, Trump is primarily targeting 'legal immigration'.