The Toledo Blade has an editorial out today talking about how Donald Trump-style immigration policies are not just bad politics for the Republican Party, but also bad policy for the country as a whole. As the editorial board writes:
Despite Mr. Trump’s apocalyptic predictions, the number of undocumented immigrants in this country has largely stabilized, and there’s little evidence that they pose a threat to Americans’ welfare. To the contrary, undocumented workers make up a critical segment of the U.S. economy; their deportation would create widespread economic shock.
Despite the nativist delusions of Mr. Trump and similar extremists, the United States is not going to expel millions of undocumented immigrants. Americans in all but name, they have built their lives here. Nor can the country continue to force them into lives of fear and uncertainty, and deprive them of essential benefits, such as aid for college, that other taxpayers enjoy.
Republican candidates need to take up these real problems, not imaginary ones. Reflexively rejecting any plan offered by President Obama is a losing strategy. If they continue their present course, they will make themselves irrelevant to Latinos, young people, and the majority of Americans who say they favor a humane path to citizenship.
The Blade contrasts Trump’s immigration plan with that of Ohio Governor John Kasich, applauding Kasich for suggesting a way for undocumented immigrants to earn legal status and perhaps citizenship.
While they are right that Kasich’s legislative solution is wholly better than the Trump plan, they leave out the fact that Kasich opposes President Obama’s executive actions which, if implemented, would save millions of immigrants—including 35,000 Ohioans—from deportation and separation from their spouses and kids.
Kasich confirmed his opposition to a group of immigrants and advocates who met with him last month, but so far he’s avoided media scrutiny on the issue.
Said Lynn Tramonte, Director of Ohio’s Voice, “While legislative reform is the ultimate goal, it requires an act of Congress, and that could take years. We want to know what will happen to immigrants with American children in the meantime. And the answers we’re getting from Republican 2016 candidates, including Kasich, are harmful for Ohio families, children, and communities.”
