I am writing to share a thought that popped in my head over the weekend. It may not come to pass, but it fits the rhetorical direction of the Trump campaign. The central theme of the campaign for the GOP, other than Biden’s age, is the southern border “invasion”. However, Trump has made some comments recently that seem at odds with his preference for a big, beautiful wall. First, it seems that his rhetoric is now more about an invasion than a wall per se. In fact, Trump blocked Biden and Lankford’s compromise bill offering money for extending the wall—he could have just as easily let the bill pass and campaigned on tripling what Biden is willing to do. Second, he said that he doesn’t need congressional appropriations to secure the border. Notice that he is again focused more on securing the border than building a wall per se. Third, there is much more violence and racism in Trump’s rhetoric than in 2016. Maybe Bob-the-buildering the wall has become too benign to satisfy the MAGA appetite for red meat? Maybe campaigning on the wall has the risk of reminding voters that he didn’t build it last time? Finally, he is really, really emphasizing the problems he can solve with his one-day dictatorship.
So it hit me: On his first day, he’s likely to issue a presidential order to allow border agents to shoot undocumented people crossing the border. Violent? Check. Racist? Check. Cruel? Check. It is easier to gain that coveted executive time with a lazy presidential order in comparison to wrangling with Congress over funding for a wall. But there is another, less appreciated, benefit for him—it will be blocked by a court. And not working is an objective. The business elites of the GOP want immigration. They think immigrants lower wages and help bust unions, and Trump needs the elites’ support. And importantly, the MAGA base won’t appreciate that this was the plan all along. They’ll be angry, thinking “the Dems won’t defend America from the invasion”. What is the evidence that Trump wants his policies to be a cruel failure? The most effective deterrent for the undocumented is already law, but is being left on the table--fining employers for hiring people without social security numbers. The problem with that policy is that it would work, and he would therefore lose the elites. And it isn’t violent, and doesn’t signal racism enough.
The Dobbs decision taught the GOP that they should have pretended to be against abortion forever rather than satisfy the base’s demand. Better to bring it up every election and then drop it. The presidential order to shoot the undocumented is the perfect non-solution to keep the “invasion” issue, and anger, alive election after election.
PS People will die with the order, if it happens. I didn’t mean to appear flippant in the post.
PPS He could also announce blanket pardons for shooting the undocumented. Yikes!