Did Trump flip-flop on closing southern border?

POTUS lost some credibility by reneging on his threat

By Jeffrey T. Kuhner

President Trump publicly threatened to “shut down” the U.S.-Mexico border in the face of a massive surge in illegal immigration. By the end of the week, however, Trump changed his tune. Instead, he gave the Mexican government a “one-year warning” that if it didn’t help Washington curb the influx of illegals, drugs and crime then he would slap high car tariffs on Mexican vehicles, thereby crippling its economy.

In other words, Trump blinked. The reason is a simple one: The Democrats and mainstream media hysterically predicted that should the president shut down the southern border, the U.S. economy would suffer “catastrophic consequences.” Their visions of gloom-and-doom were echoed by many leading Republicans, such as Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz. They claimed we would run out of avocadoes within three weeks (God forbid!); Mexican auto parts would be blocked from entering the U.S. market, damaging our car industry; and, according to Cruz, the entire Texas economy would be devastated. By cratering much of the economy, they warned, Trump risked losing re-election.

Hence, instead of following his instincts, Trump buckled to the establishment. The consequences are now obvious—and ominous: On border issues, he will no longer be taken seriously. Like the boy who cried wolf, Trump has lost his credibility; after multiple public threats to close the border, no one, especially, the Mexicans will believe him again. He has frittered away the most important thing a president has: moral authority. Trump is now seen as someone who bluffs. Even when he’s holding a great hand, he folds.

The irony is that Trump caved at the very moment he has been vindicated. There is an immigration crisis at the border. The recent surge is almost unprecedented. Mexican drug cartels are exploiting our asylum laws, enabling hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens and border crossers to flood into our country. Human trafficking and drug smuggling are exploding. The United States is on pace to add over 1.5 million illegal immigrants to its total population by the end of the year. In March alone, over 100,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended crossing the border—the largest one-month number in over a decade. The Border Patrol estimates that over 500,000 will enter America in the next three months. During the last 12 days alone, ICE has allowed 17,000 illegal aliens to cross into the interior of the United States, where most of them will never show up for their asylum/immigration court hearings scheduled 2-3 years from now.

The word is out on the street in Central America and Mexico: The United States is a paper tiger. Our borders are wide open, and we are unable—and unwilling—to defend our national security and sovereignty. Earlier in the week, Trump rightly said that in any conflict between economic interests and American security, the defense of our borders comes first. Apparently, he didn’t mean it.

Moreover, what globalist Republicans and their Democratic-media allies conveniently ignore is that the cost of unlimited Third World immigration is unsustainable. In fact, shutting down the southern border is a pittance compared to the overall economic burden of illegal immigration. The price tag for government spending on health care, public housing and welfare simply for illegal aliens is over $130 billion a year. If one adds the massive costs of education—free elementary and secondary schooling, in-state tuition benefits—plus crime, drugs and criminal incarceration, the total financial burden is $250-300 billion a year. Open borders is bankrupting America.

There is also the devastating human toll. The opioid epidemic, in which 90 percent of the heroin comes through our southern border, resulted in the deaths of 72,000 Americans last year—more than all U.S. troops killed during the Vietnam War. Think about it: this is a Vietnam every year. Since 2016, over 6,000 U.S. citizens have been murdered or killed by illegal aliens. This is more than the number of American soldiers who died in Iraq. It is twice the death count of those slaughtered in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. After 9/11, we vowed to “never forget.” Yet, the senseless killing of Americans by foreigners—criminals who have no business being on our soil—is deliberately ignored. As if their precious lives have no meaning.

We are facing an historic invasion from the South. America is going the way of the Roman Empire, unwilling to protect its frontiers and being overrun by foreign barbarians. Trump’s presidency was our last chance. His accomplishments—a booming economy, tax cuts, smashing ISIS—will mean nothing if we lose our country and the radical left achieves the demographic and cultural revolution it has craved for the past 30 years.

Trump must shut down the border before it’s too late. Otherwise, he will be a one-term president. And if he goes down, so does America.

-Jeffrey T. Kuhner is host of “The Kuhner Report” on WRKO AM-680 in Boston. His show airs weekdays 6-10 am EST. He can be reached at: jeffreykuhner@iheartmedia.com