One aspect of the Trump administration’s policy that has made headlines around the world is its anti-immigrant stance. This included the separation of parents and children at the border, which generated considerable international outcry at the time, and discussion of Mrs. Trump’s coat when she visited the border (it read ‘I really don’t care, do u?‘). There is also an expressed intention to end the birthright to remain, although it has been said that this is legally impossible.
The anti-immigrant rhetoric became stronger during the run-up to the midterm elections in October 2018 (you might like to consider whether this indicates something about the voters) and we read an article on this topic in class. This article gives a better idea why he has been making such a big issue out of it (i.e. elections are coming up and anti-immigrant rhetoric is a vote winner): https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/01/donald-trump-white-house-immigration-midterms-speech
Update: a month after we studied the article in class, the Central American migrant caravan reached the US border: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/migrant-caravan-tijuana-lgbt-group-locals-reaction
Task
Discuss the following questions:
- Do you think it makes sense for the US government to have an anti-immigrant stance? Why/why not?
- Do you think Trump’s policies of cancelling aid, building a border wall and deploying troops will solve the problem of Central American migrant caravans?
- What are your views on the topic of international immigration?