In the wee hours of the morning on May 1, 2017, Congress passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the federal government through September 2017. However, while the pundits on Capitol Hill hailed this as a wonderful bipartisan bill that proves both parties can work together, further examination of the bill shows that illegal aliens win and American citizens lose – again!
President Trump has signed 90 executive actions since he took office in January 2017 – six of which dealt specifically with immigration. But most of the changes the president has tried to implement regarding immigration and refugee intake have been temporarily thwarted by activist judges, ignored by state and local government officials in sanctuary jurisdictions or shot down by Congress.
With President Trump in office, it’s supposed to be time to cut-off incentives for illegal immigration, beef up enforcement at the border and the interior of the country, and increase the threat of deportation for illegal aliens – especially those who have committed heinous crimes against American citizens. It should also be high time to clean up the immigration mess left by the Obama administration. The spending bill was supposed to be part of that process – but the Republican leadership in Congress gave up without a fight. So did the administration, although the president later hinted in a Tweet that he will be prepared to do so as the FY 2018 budget is negotiated. But that remains to be seen.
President Trump asked for money to build a wall in the spending bill. He also wanted to cutoff certain federal funding to sanctuary cities. The president has tried to deliver on some of his campaign promises through the use of executive action, but other much needed reforms require Congress to act.
American citizens must continue to keep the pressure on Congress and stand behind President Trump to make sure he keeps his promises on immigration reform.