Give Trump His Freakin' Wall!

We made it out of 2017, even with a whack job as President.  I don’t know about you, but my stomach churns when I think about what is in store for us in 2018.  If you thought 2017 was bad, “you ain’t seen nothin yet!” 

FOR THE next three months, the word DACA will echo in our ears.  DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is set to expire in March.  DACA is also known as the Dream Act which was created by Obama.  And that’s all you need to know. Obama created it, so Trump must tear it down.  It’s too bad Obama didn’t build the wall because then Trump’s mantra would be “tear down that wall.”  By the way, have you noticed when Trump says the word DACA, he spits it out like a sour persimmon?  If not, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to observe that during the next three months.

THERE ARE 800,000 Dreamers in this country.  They came to this country as children and know no other way of life.  They went to school and church with your children.  The only thing different from the Dreamers and your child is the place they were born.  Their parents brought them here so they could have a better life—they did it out of love, the same way you make decisions out of love for your children.  Now they will be sent back out of hate.

OBAMA’S DREAM Act placed stringent requirements for this program.  To qualify as a Dreamer and get a two- year pass, the Dreamer must get a High School diploma or GED, have a job, and stay out of trouble of any kind. Some Dreamers are serving in our military and are veterans. How many of your children could pass the rules of DACA?  Dreamers must requalify every two years.  The punishment for violating these rules is deportation.  It’s not like they will be going home.  They will be returned to a country they don’t know, without their families and friends.  It is beyond cruel and that’s not the way our country operated in the past.  I grew up believing the inscription on the Statue of Liberty.  “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses longing to breathe fee.”  That’s my America.

A BIG FIGHT over DACA is looming.  Trump is going to hold DACA over the heads of the Democrats in Congress to get funding for his wall.  You know, the wall he promised Mexico would pay for—believe me,” and Mexico said “hell no!”  The wall will cost taxpayers $70 billion to build and $150 million a year to maintain.  Talk about a “pig in a poke!”  There is no value in that.  However, with few illegals coming in from the South and Trump tearing our country down on a daily basis, perhaps he will use the wall to keep people IN this country rather than OUT.

THE MISTAKE that Obama made with the Dreamer Act was not providing a pathway to citizenship.  I cannot fathom how it would be to never feel comfortable, safe, and secure in my own bed.  The future of the Dreamers is so uncertain, they must never feel peace.  That must be what it’s like to live under an authoritarian government like Russia, et. al.  You constantly must be looking over your shoulder and never know when you will be pulled from your bed at night and placed in prison.  In the case of Dreamers, be dumped in another country where they are not welcome and don’t know a soul.  The America I know and love has a heart. 

TRMP WANTS a deal on DACA from the Democrats.  Here’s my proposal.  I say, Democrats should go for the “full Monty.”  They should require DACA be made permanent with a pathway to citizenship. A further requirement will be that Medicare, Social Security, veteran’s benefits, or children’s healthcare programs will not be cut to pay for it.  In exchange, Democrats will vote overwhelmingly for his lame wall.  After all, that wall is just a gargantuan waste of money but allowing Trump his “dream” will not change our life in a solitary way.  On the other hand, hurting these innocent young people will forever be a blight on our country.  One day we can tear down the wall, but we can never undo the hurt, pain, and suffering endured by these young people and their families.

THIRTY SHORT years ago, in a speech heard around the world, President Reagan, the idol of Republicans, called on the Soviet Union’s Gorbacheu to “Tear down that Wall!”  He was referring to the wall built between East and West Berlin.  Americans cheered.  Wall bad then.  Wall good now.  Ironic isn’t it?