Trump's immigration no-brainer

Why passing DACA legislation is the easiest call in the world

An immigration rally.
(Image credit: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

One thing that we can already say only a year into Donald Trump's presidency is that despite his rhetoric he is far less of an immigration hardliner than Barack Obama was.

For an issue that is essentially prudential — no one seriously believes that it should be unlimited or that it should end tomorrow without exceptions — rather than ideological, immigration tends to be discussed in fairly emotional terms. This is understandable. Whether a person remains in this country with a job, in proximity to his family, or is deported to Central America is not something about which anyone can be expected to be dispassionate. What is not understandable is our unwillingness to accept the numbers at face value: Obama set records for deportation, returning more immigrants in 2015 than Trump did the following year or is likely to do in any of the three — or seven — years to come.

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Matthew Walther

Matthew Walther is a national correspondent at The Week. His work has also appeared in First Things, The Spectator of London, The Catholic Herald, National Review, and other publications. He is currently writing a biography of the Rev. Montague Summers. He is also a Robert Novak Journalism Fellow.