The administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget just delivered to Congress contains a broad number of reforms designed to deter illegal immigration, locate and deport illegal aliens involved in criminal activities, and stem the fiscal drain caused by illegal aliens residing in the United States.
Unless you believe illegal aliens should be accommodated and given legal residence, you will be pleased that the Trump budget demonstrates a commitment to accomplish several of the president’s campaign promise to crackdown on illegal immigration. Although, still, the commitments to construction of the border fence and increasing the capacity of immigration courts, are severely short-changed in the proposed budget.
One of the clearest expressions that the true immigration reforms in the budget request will be opposed by the entrenched open borders network appeared in the May 20 New York Times from an avowed opponent of the reforms. Angela Kelley, who championed amnesty for illegal aliens as an advisor to Obama’s White House staff, and now advises George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, commented on the budget proposals, “If your single goal is to make life as miserable as possible for those who are here without status, then it’s about as effective as you can get.” Her comment is, of course, biased. The goal of the reforms is not to make life miserable for illegal aliens, but to send a clear message that we will not tolerate unchecked illegal immigration making life miserable for American workers and taxpayers.
The budget measures include funding for more detention space, more enforcement personnel, expansion of the E-Verify system to deter employers from hiring them, eliminating the ability of illegal aliens to access social safety net benefits if they have U.S.-born children, and clarifying the requirement that state and local jails and prisons cooperate with the federal government in turning over detained illegal aliens for deportation.