Barack Obama is hot on the campaign trail rallying for current US Vice President (and Democratic presidential nominee) Kamala Harris ahead of next month’s general election—and to absolutely no one’s surprise, he had some choice words for Donald J. Trump.
Speaking at a Kamala Harris rally in the swing state of Nevada over the weekend, Obama took to the stage to show his support for the Democratic candidate, and he didn’t disappoint. His speech included the usual talking points, ranging from the condition of the American economy to the importance of early voting. Quickly, however, Obama’s speech escalated into a brutal deconstruction of Trump’s playbook attacks—namely, his history of falsely blaming immigration for any issue.
“As I recall, you were up there in the Oval Office,” Obama said during the rally. “So if rounding up and deporting millions of desperate people, many of them who are women and children, if that’s the answer to everything, well, why is it that the number of undocumented immigrants were basically the same when he left office as when he took office?”
“If you challenge [Trump’s administration], they’ll fall back on one answer. It does not matter what it is—housing, health care, education, paying for the bills—one answer: blame the immigrants,” Obama also said, adding, “He wants you to believe that if you elect him, he will just round up whoever he wants and ship them out and all your problems will be solved.”
In reality, health care, education, and other hot-button issues are far more nuanced than that—plus, most immigrants, regardless of their documentation status, often end up paying into the US tax system, only continuing to economic growth. As Obama declared in the same speech, “[Trump] didn’t solve the problem, and I’ll tell you why. Because he does not have a real plan. He has a concept of a plan, and it’s a mean and ugly plan designed to foster resentment and divide people.”
Donald Trump’s border agenda points to a dangerous reality for undocumented immigrants
Time and time again, Donald Trump has made immigration out to be the fall guy for virtually every issue this country is experiencing. Inflation? Blame immigrants. A nationwide housing crisis? Must be those folks crossing the boarder! Unfortunately, it’s a foolproof way to fire up conservative voters, but more often than not, the whole “blame the refugees” ideology is riddled with misinformation and scare tactics.
Despite his best efforts, Trump didn’t actually reduce illegal immigration during his time in office, either; he decreased legal immigration. According to FactCheck.org, misleading claims that apprehensions at the southwest border dropped during his presidency couldn’t be farther from the truth, as arrests were 14.7% higher in 2020 than they were in 2016—a.k.a. the last full year before he was elected.
It’s also worth noting that Team Trump-Vance plans to build several mass deportation camps near the US border in Texas to carry out its plan of separating immigrant families, with Trump himself even saying it will be a “bloody story” during a Wisconsin rally last month. Don’t be fooled: deporting millions of people won’t magically fix this country’s problems. It’s bad-faith fear-mongering and shifts the blame away from those who are actually responsible for the state of the US economy, health care, etc.—career politicians.
Instead of carrying out the completion of Trump’s border wall or deporting hardworking immigrants as the Project 2025 movement suggests, maybe, just maybe this country’s elected officials should consider directing our tax dollars elsewhere. Then, we could actually get somewhere. But until that far-off, utopian day arrives, leave it to Obama to put his successor in his place.
Published: Oct 21, 2024 02:28 pm