I don't want to get repetitious on the subject of immigration, but Democrats are using the issue of an illogical type of political extortion to justify a government shutdown. (As I write. there's talk that a Gang of 20 is making progress Sunday afternoon to a possible overnight vote.)
Generally I've always been favorably predisposed to immigration, given to the fact my great-grandparents had immigrated in the late 19th century. I also went to high school and college with a large percentage of fellow Latino students (and my own students during my brief stay at UTEP). I later took a more nuanced position on the basis of the rule of law and equality of opportunity and wanted to reform the system in a more open, legal fashion. But I also saw how one of my best friends, an Indian immigrant, had been exploited in a truly cruel Green Card process.
Whereas it bothered me how merit-based immigrants were bottled out and and at the same time how cruel it was to restrict family-based immigration, eventually I also became aware of a crude, absurd quota system where prospective worthy immigrants from large, populated countries faced daunting odds. What made things even worse is that American-based companies face issues bringing in foreign talent (a win-win proposition). Some of my favored free-market economists (e.g., Don Boudreaux) convinced me that quotas or restrictions (say, based on skills) were arbitrary and economically damaging. If anything, I have become ideological on the issue and increasingly impatient with old, tired restrictionist talking points, which seem to assume the legitimacy of an economic illiterate quota system, if not rationalizing a xenophobic perspective.
As for DACA, i.e., whether to deport foreign-born kids who have grown up as Americans, regardless of the undocumented nature of their parents and their own entry, there are two principal points: yes, Obama's HHS workaround to his inability to change immigration policy certainly wasn't constitutional despite his good intentions. However, Trump's repulsive anti-immigrant stand has also targeted the "dreamers", with a shutdown of Obama's program, without any legislative solution in place to protect their right to remain in the country which has been home for much of their youth. It's is fundamentally unjust and anti-constitutional to blame kids for the decisions of their parents trying to work around a broken worker visa program.
I'm not happy about Trump's unilateral action which I instinctively knew would provoke some sort of Democratic response, but I didn't know when or where. Make no mistake: this is manipulative politics. Obama as a Senator, sabotaged the 2007 immigration reform effort, which had been backed by Bush. The Dems' Big Labor constituency had eliminated the Bracero program, which had provided a successful temporary worker program. And let's point out even Sanders, despite paying lip service to some Dem talking points over existing undocumented workers/families, still argues a labor protectionist view against open immigration. This is all about treating the symptoms and not the diseased of a corrupt century-old restrictive immigration policy. So spare me the crocodile tears; I don't think the Dems are motivated simply by the hope of capturing the Latino vote; I think the GOP's current toxic anti-immigrant policies repel Latinos, many of who seem to view them as a proxy of their own acceptance in American society.
But I think the Dems are picking the wrong fight. Let's just say that federal employees and contractors resent being used as political pawns; many of them have been or will be furloughed by tomorrow barring a resolution passing overnight. Including one of my brothers and a sister. True, usually civilians (civil servants) will get backpay, (Contractors may not.) Let me briefly explain I myself was affected by the last shutdown. I had a contingent offer based on paperwork that normally took 3-5 business days to process. Because of shutdown-related backlogs, it ended up taking something like 10 weeks, and there were other complications involving an out-of-state move that personally cost me literally thousands of dollars. (Now it may sound paradoxical for a libertarian to accept government-related assignments, but I provide good taxpayer value in assignments relevant to legitimate State concerns.)
The Dems do not have a legitimate fight here. It's not like the House funding bill had been partisan in nature, e.g., cutting Dem programs or increasing GOP spending priorities. Moreover, federal civilians or employees are often part of the Dem voter base. Make no mistake: no employee or contractor likes the economic uncertainty of being effectively laid or or even "essential" working with indefinite deferment of pay. And the DC area, including the MD and VA collar counties, are heavily blue. I'm not saying that these potential voters will flip GOP but voting against the interests of your constituents is potentially very risky. Not to mention that but most independents and moderates are not sure that DACA is an issue to take a stand for purposes of the chaos of a government shutdown. If this is an example of what Dems would do if the voters put them back into power, I think they had made a critical unforced error.
What of the Dems' talking point that this is a GOP issue because they control the House, the Senate, and the White House? Come on. That's not even reasonable. If the GOP really controlled the Senate as the Dems imply, there wouldn't be a shutdown. With an ill senator (McCain) absent, the GOP controls 50 votes (with 3 of those votes in doubt on the spending resolution); right now the spending resolution needs 60 votes to pass, meaning the resolution needs at least 10-13 Dem votes to pass.
One of the President's sons, Eric, claims that Trump will benefit politically from the Dems' misplayed hand over the shutdown. As I quipped in a Tweet, that boy must have fallen on his head as a baby. Trump is at roughly 38% job approval--and that's before his failure to cut a deal with Schumer this weekend. He backed two losing Senate candidates in deep-red Alabama. He's getting little traction with his favorable economic news over the past year. He's turning out to be too maintenance. Just as Obama got overexposed during the early years of his President, Trump's provocative rhetoric, his uncontrolled Tweeting, his constant self-promotion and thin skin may appeal to his supporters, but it's even wearing thin on fellow Republicans, who seem to be retiring at a record rate, weary from carrying the water for a President with a reputation for criticizing his own staff and administration, never mind threatening or criticizing his Congressional allies.
The only thing "saving" Trump and the GOP right now is that the Dems made an unforced error in an unnecessary government shutdown. But it's likely voters will blame ALL the parties, but Trump is going to take a political hit on this, because it happened on his watch. His wheeler-dealer image also took a big hit.
