{"id":20757,"date":"2019-02-06T16:08:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T21:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=20757"},"modified":"2019-02-07T08:32:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T13:32:23","slug":"the-ad-lib-heard-around-the-world-immigrationreform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2019\/02\/06\/the-ad-lib-heard-around-the-world-immigrationreform\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ad-Lib Heard Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Usually few people can recall specific policy proposals made during a State of the Union and fewer can remember a specific line. But that may not be the case with President Trump\u2019s address to Congress last night which included a huge ad lib that left many scratching their heads.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Having just launched into his comments on immigration, President Trump offered praise for legal immigrants who \u201cenrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you were reading along with the <\/span>prepared remarks<\/a>, the president should have then said, \u201cI want people to come into our country, but they have to come in legally.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But the president did not. Instead, he went off the cuff saying he wants \u201c<\/span>people to\u00a0come into our country in the\u00a0largest numbers ever, but they\u00a0have to come in legally.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The reactions from both sides shared a similar stunned disbelief.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to come into our country in the largest numbers ever\u201d — like I’ve always said, the guy is not a restrictionist,\u201d <\/span>tweeted<\/a> Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

NumbersUSA, which like CIS supports limiting legal immigration, <\/span>reacted<\/a> with guarded hope, asking, \u201cDid he misspeak? Let\u2019s hope so,\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Swan, a reporter for Axios, heard it differently <\/span>arguing<\/a> that the ad lib \u201cmeans nothing\u201d since Trump \u201cjust likes the sound of hyperbole.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

CNN\u2019s political analyst Jon Avlon ran through a list of actions the administration has taken to curb legal immigration before <\/span>advising viewers<\/a>: \u201cdon\u2019t believe the hype.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Nowrastah, a senior immigration analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute, also took the president\u2019s statement with a grain of salt <\/span>suggesting<\/a> that if he truly means it then \u201crepudiate the RAISE Act and his campaign promise to cut legal immigration.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Even ABC News\u2019 <\/span>fact check<\/a> rated the statement \u201cFalse\u201d based on Trump lowering the cap on refugee admissions to historic lows and other executive actions. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So, is it much ado about an ad lib?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Reihan Salam, who contributes to The Atlantic and the National Review, acknowledged\u00a0it\u00a0might be\u00a0hyperbole, but <\/span>wrote<\/a><\/u> that it also\u00a0could be \u201ca sign of things to come.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He theorized that Trump may be trying change the direction and tone of the immigration conversation by muting his approach to legal immigration, while trying to hold onto his base with a firm stand on border security issues and the wall.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Less than 24 hours later, when asked directly about the ad lib, Trump\u00a0confidently <\/span><\/span>confirmed to reporters<\/a> that the <\/span><\/span>ad lib was\u00a0mistake but an actual\u00a0change in policy.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause we need people in our country because our unemployment numbers are so low, and we have massive numbers of companies coming back into our country.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The abandonment of his campaign pledge and commitment to protect American workers is more disturbing considering other signs of a <\/span>weakening<\/a> on other issues, particularly concerning guest workers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The administration also has, at least rhetorically, opened the door to expansions of the guest worker programs in certain industries.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Last April, President Trump promised farmworkers in Michigan that he <\/span>favored<\/a> letting guest workers in \u201cbecause we need them.\u201d He <\/span>doubled down on that pledge<\/a> in a speech to the American Farm Bureau Federation\u2019s annual convention last month.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If Trump remains committed to pursuing bad public policy, he will be reversing past positions taken and promises made, both as a candidate and as president. Coming to the United States legally matters, but so does the number of people coming to the United States. Mass immigration, legal or illegal, undermines the jobs and livelihoods of many Americans, overburdens vital social institutions and the social safety net.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In advocating for allowing \u201cpeople to come into our country in the largest numbers ever,\u201d the president seems to be ignoring the impact of mass immigration on American society and that those considerations are precisely the reasons why immigration laws exist and limits are set<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Usually few people can recall specific policy proposals made during a State of the Union and fewer can remember a specific line. But that may not be the case with President Trump\u2019s address to Congress last night which included a huge ad lib that left many scratching their heads. Having just launched into his comments<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":16343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1478],"tags":[1524,4417,1491,489],"yst_prominent_words":[4418,4411,4414,4410,2437,4408,4424,1963,4415,4413,2142,4017,4419,2420,4416,1994,1942,2502,1946,1933],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20757"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20764,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757\/revisions\/20764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20757"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}