Trump's best October surprise: Immigration reform

As the midterms approach and before mail-in ballots inevitably start going into the mail, it is time for President Trump to announce an October surprise that will ensure a Republican majority in Congress. The time has come to put a definitive end to illegal immigration and illegal employment.

Twenty years from now, when historians evaluate the Trump Administration, they will either report that he heroically succeeded in putting an end to a 40-year-old, intractable dilemma — bringing enormous economic and social benefits to America and taking a major step toward rebuilding national unity — or that he tightened the border and deported millions while miserably failing to put an end to the problem.  

Solutions have been proposed in Congress that would make illegal employment obsolete, give existing workers and contributors a way to make restitution for their illegal entry, and codify (and fund) President Trump’s spectacularly successful border enforcement. Seldom do whole bills pass, but the immigration problem can be solved definitively by including key provisions in December’s mandatory budget bill.  The time has come to act to secure a historic win for America.

Solving the immigration dilemma represents an America First policy. Legalizing existing workers will secure the workforce, address the affordability crisis, retain skilled workers and professionals, contribute to economic growth, and ensure appropriate population growth.  

America’s farms, construction industry, healthcare, and service industries all depend on immigrant labor, and for forty years, they have been forced by ineffective national leadership to tolerate and abet a system of illegal employment. By simultaneously championing the rule of law and supporting reform, the Trump Administration can put an end to this longtime contradiction (and debilitation) of the Rule of Law in America.

Nothing in American society and culture contributes more to our prosperity and freedom than the Rule of Law. Our long toleration of its abuse has created disorder in society and misery in personal lives and families. The current toleration of illegal employment in America erodes our national integrity in many ways, and it must come to an end.  

But the answer is not mass deportation of all illegal immigrants. Workers don’t grow on trees. Employers have to develop and train them, and American businesses have grown too dependent on the current immigrant workforce to survive its displacement without serious consequences.  

With the border now under control (and kudos to President Trump for this stunning achievement), the time has come to do something for “the good people” who work hard, pay taxes, study to earn a better future, marry Americans, raise precious native-born American citizens, and do the work that so many other American workers do not want to do.

If President Trump champions both border enforcement and an appropriate punishment for those who came here illegally (combined with normalization of their status in the country), the achievement will truly leave him a legacy of successful domestic policy. That does not usually happen in a second-term administration.  

But President Trump can leave an enduring positive legacy if he takes steps to solidify the coalition that elected him to office and leave them in place to support Republican control of Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court. If his second term frustrates the electorate so much that they turn to the Democrats in a protest vote, he could pave the way for the rapid dismantling of his achievements.

As for the coalition that elected President Trump, Evangelical Christians figure as the most crucial element, and Hispanic Evangelicals number 9 million in America. In the last election, 47% of Latino voters voted for Trump, but the polls do not currently indicate that they will vote for Republican congressional candidates in the midterms. Many of them feel betrayed by the devastation of their families and churches caused by the current deportation campaign.

Without Hispanic Evangelical votes, the Republicans will lose control of the government. Good leadership can secure those votes by a commitment to immigration reform in the next month, but after mid-October, it will be too late. If President Trump steps up and leads now, he can ensure a midterm congressional victory and avoid the impeachment circus and legislative paralysis that will surely follow a Democratic takeover of the House.  

President Trump can secure the loyalty of Hispanic conservatives for a generation if he acts now to do what he has always said he wanted to do. And as many have said, just as only Nixon could go to China, only Trump can achieve immigration reform. One man’s leadership can improve the lives of millions and secure the blessings of liberty and prosperity for our posterity. 

President Trump, please surprise us now.