By Ed Diokno
So much for all that talk about Donald Trump softening his stance on immigration and reaching out to minority voters.
GOP Presidential candidate Trump gave a frightening nativist tirade in Arizona that should put away any doubt that he has any empathy towards immigrants, whether they are here legally or undocumented.
Down in the polls against Sec. Hillary Clinton, Trump must think he has nothing to lose so instead of trying to reach out to Latinos and other immigrant communities as he tried in recent days, he instead, doubled down on the hate-filled rhetoric in one of the most vicious, ugly speeches by a presidential candidate that I can recall.
Since LSU at 18 I fought to stop immigration. Ecstatic over Trump speech. CAN’T WAIT TO BE YOUR VOICE IN U.S.SENATE & TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) September 1, 2016
Excellent speech by Donald Trump tonight. Deport criminal aliens, end catch and release, enforce immigration laws & America First.
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) September 1, 2016
For immigrants from Asia, now the largest source of immigrants to the U.S., it was disappointing to hear that he would do away with DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and DAPA, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would affect thousands of undocumented Asian immigrants. “Everybody must go,” said Trump.
What was perhaps most startling was Trump’s call to return immigration to its “historical norms,” which could mean abolishing the 1965 immigration reforms that did away with the preferences giving European immigrants an edge over the rest of the world.
Trump belied another pillar of his candidacy, which calls for a reduction of government, when he said he would add 5,000 Border Patrol agents, triple the number of agents for ICE, create a deportation task force and reiterated his call for building that damn wall on our southern border.