Americans want border security, and the numbers show it

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Are Democrats really for border security? A look at all the ways they have blocked efforts to reform immigration

Are Democrats really for border security? A look at all the ways they have blocked efforts to reform immigration

President Trump is far from alone in his determination to secure our borders — according to a recent Gallup poll, Americans view immigration as the second-biggest problem facing the country today.

That’s bad news for the Democrat Party, which is hellbent on opposing the president’s efforts to fix our broken immigration system, especially the border wall he needs in order to get illegal immigration under control.

The Democrats have a very simple, two-part strategy on immigration: first and foremost, they want to keep President Trump from fulfilling his promises to the American people; second, they want to make it even easier for foreigners to enter this country illegally.

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With Democrats now in control of the House of Representatives, it’s no surprise that Americans are deeply troubled by the immigration crisis.

Over the past several decades, millions of illegal immigrants have successfully evaded our efforts to enforce immigration laws, putting local economies and welfare programs under tremendous pressure to cope with the massive influx of undocumented workers and their families, most of whom receive at least one form of government welfare.

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In fact, illegal immigration costs taxpayers a staggering $134.9 billion a year while contributing only $19 billion in state, federal, and local taxes. At the federal level, medical costs make up the lion’s share of government expenditures on illegal immigrants, while education is the largest single expense that illegal immigration imposes on state and local governments.

Sadly, an overloaded welfare state is not the only negative side-effect of our broken immigration system. Communities across America are also being devastated by the violent crime and drug trafficking that result from our failure to control the border — an issue Donald Trump has addressed repeatedly and emphatically ever since he first announced his candidacy for president.

Rather than letting obstructionist Democrats in Congress prevent him from addressing the immigration problem, the president has exercised his executive power to make progress on the issue wherever possible.

Thanks to the president’s diplomatic approach, for instance, the U.S. and Mexico have virtually achieved synergy on immigration, developing a joint strategy to tackle the root causes of mass migration. In response to urging from the Trump administration, Mexico is also offering incentives to deter migrants from illegally crossing the U.S. border, as well as agreeing to house asylum-seekers on its territory while their claims are processed by U.S. authorities.

President Trump has done everything in his power to strengthen immigration enforcement on our side of the border as well, even sending the military to reinforce our brave border patrol agents when a caravan of thousands of migrants threatened to overwhelm their resources.

By taking a firm stand on border security, the president is doing exactly what the people elected him to do, as Gallup’s polling confirms.

Politicians in Washington simply can’t continue to ignore the significant problems with our immigration system, and the voters know it. The Democrats now have a clear choice — they can either listen to the American people who overwhelmingly oppose illegal immigration and work with President Trump to secure the border, or they can continue to play political games in the midst of a national crisis. May they choose wisely.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article referred to immigration figures that have been disputed in a report by the Washington Post.