Why Trump is gaining traction, despite the bombast

Republicans are properly criticizing Donald Trump for his bombast and discourtesy on the campaign trail, especially his ill-advised comments about Mexicans. His competitors would be wise to embrace the immigration issue, because it speaks to the sensibilities of American citizens but also to Hispanics and other ethnic minorities who reside in the U.S.

According to the Pew Research Center, about one-third of all Mexicans foresee a better life in America if they were to live here. Those who are here, whether legally or illegally, came to the United States because, in part, they wanted to escape the danger that lurks in Mexico — either economic danger, corruption, criminal behavior or drug cartel danger. The recent killing of Kate Steinle in San Francisco, allegedly by an illegal immigrant Mexican felon deported repeatedly from the U.S., affects Hispanics present in America whether legally or not: Hispanics want to be safe from felons who gun down an innocent civilian on the streets they frequent the same as any other law-abiding citizen.

{mosads}The message for presidential candidates, therefore, is not that all immigrants are a threat, but that felons and criminals who are not kept permanently away from American soil threaten people of all races, backgrounds and ethnic origin. And that may be why Trump is getting traction — all U.S.residents desire that criminal immigrants be kept out of America.

The fact that seven-time felon Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez was deported five times and somehow returned is on the conscience of officials charged with keeping him out of the United States. Perhaps it’s the failure of the Obama administration and its permissiveness on immigration that has so outraged the common man — and the campaign of Trump. Perhaps it’s the fault of Congress for oversight failures. More likely, it’s the Obama administration’s delay in constructing the southern border fence mandated by law.

The first order of immigration policy should be to complete construction of the fence and deploy drone technology to intercept encroachers and use of any other technological advancement that can secure American borders. Private-sector contractors could complete the fence in weeks, if the government insisted upon it.

The second order of business should be to deport criminal immigrants quickly, with serious congressional oversight, so that criminal immigrants who enter America are not an automatic threat to others. Third, illegal immigrants should take steps within a limited timeframe to become legal, and especially learn English. Fourth, such immigrants should be required to pass the immigrant citizenship test the same as all other naturalized citizens. States that encourage legitimacy of illegal immigrants, whether through driver’s license issuance, sanctuary cities or automatic voter registration should be required to forego all federal funds until they certify that criminal immigrants are not passing through their systems unimpeded.

No wonder Trump is getting traction on the issue of Steinle’s sad death, even though it’s tainted by his otherwise outrageous declarations.

Instead of diminishing immigrants who come to America illegally to seek a better life, let’s help integrate them, help them become legal and embrace their desire for a safe country to make their home. With some 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States already, the 2016 presidential candidates must devise a way to speak to them without threatening mass deportation that will never happen. A better way is to embrace their human desire to be safe and free from the violence they escaped. If there are jobs for them here, support their hiring, but accompany it with defined programs for citizenship, encouraging them to become Americans, not merely for the higher standard of living they and their families can achieve, but to experience the Americanism that awaits them: The opportunity to enjoy a country with the longest-surviving Constitution. They can then experience the basic human rights accorded to all and share in the prosperity and cultural diversity that America has offered since its founding.

Immigration reform may be dead in Congress, but that doesn’t mean a focusing of immigration policy can’t be crafted. Who better to do so than the next president of the United States, urging a policy of safety for all?

Nethercutt is a former U.S. representative from Washington state, serving from 1995 to 2005.