Support for immigration is surging in the Trump era

But what does it say about illegal immigration? Legal immigration is fine with me and most other right wingers I would presume. The conventional wisdom is that the most American citizens disapprove of illegal immigration and all the problems it causes

Some liberals don't distinguish between the two by design.   Illegal, legal, doesn't seem to matter.  Why do you think they do that?/s

When talking about immigration , I think most people would be for immigration,  but there are 2 words that matter very much that affects the view a person could take that would prefix the word immigration , those 2 words are "legal" or "Illegal". and like it or not , which word is the prefix , does matter.

At least it does to me when I form my personal opinion.

Of course it matters.

But most people aren't stupid. They understand that if legal immigration is cut to nothing, then desperate people will take the risk of coming illegally. So opening up legal immigration a bit probably lessens the illegal pressure by nearly as much.

Well, has legal immigration been cut back or restricted? Trump has said that he has no problem with that. I can say most assuredly that promoting illegal immigration will be a losing issue for the Democrats in the midterms.

Well, has legal immigration been cut back or restricted? 

Of course it hasn't but that is of no concern to the irrational.  Besides this is really about making someone look bad and keeping your eyes off the lowest unemployment in a generation, 250,000 off food stamps and the lowest unemployment among minorities EVER!  You see, keeping the negative aspects front and center and keeping people blind to the positive is the only chance they have of winning.   After all, What have elections centered around in the past 2 decades?  THE ECONOMY!  They know they don't have anyone that can match Trump on the big issue of the day so their only prayer of winning is to try to make something else the number one concern of voters and they are trying real hard, aren't they?  Thank God it's backfiring!  Of course if they DO get back in power everyone's number one concern will be the economy again soon enough.  Several including Bill Meyer have said a recession is the only way to get him out of office and they are more than happy to put us all thorough whatever suffering is necessary to get what they want.

Well, has legal immigration been cut back or restricted? 

Of course it hasn't but that is of no concern to the irrational.

Well of course it has.  One would have to be a some sort of Quisling to think otherwise.

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All the ways President Trump is cutting legal immigration

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY Published June 12, 2018

During a 2016 campaign stop in Illinois, then-candidate Donald Trump invited to the stage a man wearing a shirt that read: "Legal Immigrant For Trump."

Asked to say a few words to the crowd, the man chastised the media for missing a fundamental aspect of Trump's candidacy: that he was opposed to illegal immigration, not legal immigration. Trump repeatedly patted the man on the back and told him, "I totally support it."

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Despite his campaign rhetoric, President Trump has acted very differently since moving into the White House. His administration has granted fewer visas, approved fewer refugees, ordered the removal of hundreds of thousands of legal residents whose home countries have been hit by war and natural disasters and pushed Congress to pass laws to dramatically cut the entire legal immigration system.

...........

Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued the latest volley  Monday when he limited the ability of foreign victims of domestic violence and gang violence to seek safe haven in the U.S. through asylum. 

"That's further confirmation that the administration's official policy toward legal immigration is restriction by any means necessary," said David Bier, an immigration policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute. "They're looking across all programs for ways that they can reduce the number of new legal permanent residents, and other foreign workers in the U.S. economy."

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Here's a look at the different ways the Trump administration has cut or proposed cuts to the nation's legal immigration system.

Limiting Asylum 

Unlike previous administrations, the Trump White House has taken aim at the nation's asylum program, which protects foreigners fleeing persecution in their home countries.

Sessions has complained the program is being abused by "dirty immigration lawyers" who coach applicants on how to game the system. He has pointed to massive increases in asylum claims at the southwest border as proof it is being taken advantage of.

Human rights activists say the rise in applications simply shows how dire the situation has become in Central America, where most are coming from. They have pleaded with the administration to maintain the program so the U.S. can continue serving its role as a global beacon for the oppressed.

Sessions disagreed, issuing new directives that will make it more difficult for victims of domestic violence and localized gang activity to win entry to the U.S. "The asylum statute is not a general hardship statute," he said, announcing the change that could affect tens of thousands of applicants. 

Travel Ban

The first major move from Trump was the controversial travel ban, which the president signed into effect a week into his tenure. 

Trump said the temporary ban was needed to give his administration time to overhaul the country's vetting systems to ensure terrorists don't infiltrate the U.S. through legal channels. Critics blasted it as nothing more than the "Muslim ban" he called for during his presidential campaign. 

Los Angeles police officers monitor protesters during a demonstration against the travel ban that was imposed by President Trump at Los Angeles International Airport on January 29, 2017.  (Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

The travel ban, which temporarily barred all immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries, was struck down by federal courts and reintroduced in various forms over the following year. The Supreme Court allowed a watered-down version of the ban to go into effect, and the administration was later able to implement "enhanced vetting" procedures on people coming from countries with ties to terrorism.

The latest version, which targets nearly 150 million residents of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, is back before the Supreme Court , which is expected to issue a ruling sometime this summer.

Refugee Program

The president has also been able to severely limit the admission of refugees, just as foreign countries are overwhelmed by the largest global migrant crisis in decades.

Despite the court rulings against him, Trump was able to halt the Refugee Resettlement Program program for seven months last year. Once it restarted in October, the Department of Homeland Security said it would conduct "extreme vetting" of people using the program.

Trump also lowered the annual cap on refugee admissions to 45,000 —  the lowest figure since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980. And it seems unlikely that the administration will even reach that number.

As of Tuesday, the U.S. had accepted 14,893 refugees with less than four months left in the fiscal year, according to State Department data. Only 46 of those were from Syria.

Temporary Protected Status

One of the largest groups of legal immigrants hit by Trump's efforts have been those legally living and working in the U.S. under the Temporary Protected Status program.

Created by Congress in 1990, the program is intended to allow people from countries ravaged by war, famine and natural disasters to remain in the U.S. as their countries recover.

Immigration advocates rally near the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 8, 2018, to support Temporary Protected Status for foreigners living in the U.S.  (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

More than 310,000 people from 10 countries were on the list when Trump came into office. But Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has been cutting down the program  country by country, arguing it has long outlived its mandate and ruling the countries have recovered enough to welcome back their citizens.

Nielsen has now cut TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan, which represents 98% of the people covered by the program. That means TPS enrollees from those countries, many of whom have legally lived in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, must return home in the coming months or risk becoming undocumented immigrants.

U.S. embassy officials in El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti spent months begging Washington not to end the programs. They argued the countries have been ravaged by other atrocities and repatriating so many people would harm not just those countries but "the U.S. national interest," according to a report prepared by Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The administration also ended a similar program that has protected nearly 4,000 Liberians over the past 25 years.

Fewer Visas

Every time the White House has tried to negotiate with Congress over an immigration bill, it has requested one change: the end of so-called "chain migration."

That is a derogatory term used to describe the long-standing practice of family immigration to the United States. The White House says it allows foreigners to sponsor too many extended relatives for permanent placement in the U.S. But critics argue it's unfair to ask immigrants to leave behind their parents, brothers, sisters and other relatives who would be cut out by the White House proposals.

Congress hasn't moved on that plan, but the administration has still lowered the number of legal immigrants.

In fiscal year 2017, the U.S. approved 559,536 foreigners for legal permanent residence (known as a green card), a 9% drop from the previous year. So far in 2018, the numbers are even lower, falling an additional 6%, according to State Department data.

There have also been similar drops in temporary visas issued to foreigners. Bier said the drops have been especially pronounced for people trying to enter the U.S. from Muslim countries, since those applications are being unnecessarily delayed and scrutinized.

"There's something going on, whether it's the deterrence effect of scaring people away from wanting to apply, or ... this increased scrutiny of applications," he said.

The administration has looked into restrictions on visas for high-tech workers, and ignored calls by the agriculture industry to expand the guest worker program for agricultural labor. But the administration has increased visas in one area : the H2B visa program, which is used for non-agricultural, seasonal guest workers.

Nielsen ordered an increase of those visas in July — from 66,000 to 81,000 — to help businesses hire enough workers. Three days later , the Trump Organization requested 76 of them.

DACA

Up until last year, nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children had legal status to live and work in the U.S. That has resulted in much debate in Washington, but the only concrete step taken so far came from Trump when he ended the program in September.

The Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program remains active due to federal judges who ruled the Trump administration used flawed legal reasoning to end it. The fate of those DREAMers will also be decided by the Supreme Court, which could take the case in the coming months.

Nursing student Carlos Esteban, a DACA recipient, rallies outside the White House on Sept. 5, 2017.  (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)

The Department of Justice argues the program was illegal from the start. Immigration lawyers and professors around the country disagree, saying a president is well within his rights to exempt some classes of undocumented immigrants from deportation.

If the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration, it could be up to Congress to find a rare compromise to save the DREAMers.

Jeez, AH!

There you go again! You never play fair... always using facts! That's cheating, you know...  

Increasing legal immigration and wanting to prevent illegal aliens from entering the country aren’t mutually exclusive. I support legal immigration but they have to at least be able to fully support themselves i,e. Mexico needs to figure out how to handle its poor other than by dumping them on me. 

Most people don't have a problem in good economic times with immigration- as long as it's legal and the immigrants are properly vetted, Having marketable skills, especially in shortage areas, is also a really big plus.

Will some Democrats and liberals ever realize that illegal aliens and lawful immigrants are two separate things?

I don't know anyone who is against legal immigration.

What I don't understand is how any Americans want to be overrun with illegal aliens.