To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, there Hillary Clinton goes again. In what now is an almost routine display of political pandering, the former Democratic presidential candidate suggested recently that Europe must curb migration to prevent the rise of right-wing populism.
“I think Europe needs to get a handle on migration because that is what lit the flame,” Clinton told The Guardian newspaper during a discussion of the role populism in the defeat of left-leaning political leaders.
She further argued that European leaders “must send a very clear message – ‘we are not going to be able to continue provide refuge and support’ – because if we don’t deal with the migration issue it will continue to roil the body politic.”
Wise advice, but it would have been more valuable years ago before migration into Europe began to decline after reaching a peak during the refugee crisis in 2015. It should be noted that the slowdown is largely due to an agreement between the European Union and Turkey to repatriate migrants who failed to apply for asylum or whose claims were rejected.
Initially some might have believed Clinton was proving accurate the theory that “a broken clock is right once a day.” But then she offered advice for her fellow Democrats in the next election.
Rather than stick to the open borders, pro-amnesty, platform on which she ran in 2016, Clinton urged potential candidates to advocate for deporting “bad actors,” but also setting an (undetermined) cut-off point for those here illegally to learn English, “pay taxes, they have to follow the law, they have to wait in line, and you have a process.”
“For people who then keep coming, you turn them back, unless they qualify for asylum, which has been in our law for hundreds of years,” she added, according to another excerpt published by The Guardian.
Rattled, the open borders lobby reacted in the only way they know how – with no facts, but plenty of red-meat rhetoric.
“Deeply misguided and unfortunate comment from someone who must know better,” Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington tweeted.
Liberal author James Zogby said Clinton was giving “shameful cover to Europe’s nationalists.”
The broken clock proved itself to actually be broken when Clinton attempted to backpedal – or as her friends in the media put it “clarify” – in a Twitter thread that focused on compassion and comprehensive immigration reform.
She gave lip service to the need for “security and the rule of law” while noting she has “always been and remain[s]a staunch advocate of comprehensive immigration reform that’s true to our values and treats every person with dignity, provides a pathway to full and equal citizenship.”
For good measure, she blasted Republicans for trying to “divide” the country, and condemned President Trump’s alleged “cruel abuses at the border.”
What a shame that Clinton lost her political guts because curbing immigration levels is not only good advice, but sound policy.