Trump Rules Out Immigration From Pretty Much Everywhere
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Version 0 of 1. People complain that Donald Trump changes his positions as often as he touches up his comb-over. But he is consistent about at least one thing: When he says something unhinged from reality and is confronted about it, he doubles down. So it went with the Republican nominee’s threat to bar Muslims from immigration until terrorism is no longer a problem (in other words, forever). Appearing on the NBC program “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he had pulled back on his no-new-Muslims pledge by not talking specifically about those who follow Islam during his convention rant on Thursday. First, he babbled about the Constitution. “Our Constitution is great,” he said. “I live with our Constitution. I love our Constitution. I cherish our Constitution,” he said, because of course the rest of us don’t live with the Constitution or love it or cherish it. Trump explained that he was expanding his ban beyond Muslims and taking it “territorial:” “We have nations and we’ll come out, I’m going to be coming out over the next few weeks with a number of the places” from which he would ban immigration, Trump said. His interviewer, Chuck Todd, suggested that countries like, say, Germany and France, have been compromised by terrorism. Mr. Consistent did not waver. “It’s their own fault, because they’ve allowed people over years to come into their territory,” Trump said. To fix the problem, he said, he would impose “extreme vetting.” The word extreme he pointed out, is a “tough word.” It is, real tough, even though he didn’t give the slightest hint about what he actually meant. And the last time a president who wanted to look tough advocated extreme measures against terrorism, we ended up with waterboarding and other forms of torture, violating several American and international laws and staining this country’s reputation. Given that most of Europe, a great deal of Asia, the entire Middle East, and virtually all of Africa have been compromised by terrorism (not to mention the United States), it’s hard to imagine what countries would not make Trump’s T List. Even Russia, run by Trump’s buddy and role model, Vladimir Putin, has problems with terrorism, including Islamist terrorism. Monaco could be an exception, and a few South American nations, maybe, but the latter are already covered by Trump’s anti-Hispanic immigration views. Should we brace for an influx from the Pacific island nations like Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Nauru? Does Trump know they exist? |