Paul Rahe is wrong about Donald Trump and about immigration

Paul Rahe is a history professor at Hillsdale College and a conservative thinker. For an example of his thinking, he writes [1]:

I regard trade policy, immigration, entitlement reform, abortion, kangaroo courts on campus, and a host of other matters of public policy as important. But we can go wrong on any of these matters and later correct course - as long as we can still have an open discussion of political issues and free elections.

Immigration is the most vital and fundamental domestic issue the U.S. faces. It determines who lives here and who votes. And, there's no "course correction": once someone is here for an extended period or has been legalized, there's very little chance they're going to be sent home. If millions of illegal aliens are legalized, there's almost a 100% chance that they'll eventually be granted citizenship. There's almost a 0% chance that any of them are going to be "delegalized" and sent home, unless they commit major crimes. Now, of course, if you believe in fairy tales like Trump Wall, you like them odds. Those familiar with the issue realize that immigration is an almost completely one-way street.

Trade is also a transformative issue: once a trade agreement is in place and corporations have started profiting from it, they'll resist attempts to return to the previous state.

Bear in mind that Rahe isn't a Trump fan: he just wants people to vote for "the slimeball" in order to keep Hillary Clinton out of office. That's basically because he thinks Hillary would establish a Banana Republic. As shady as she is and as shady as the Democratic Party is and as much as they'd use the office to strike at their domestic enemies, only Trump acts like a Latin American caudillo, up to one of his sons urging a political assassination. Trump and has fans have shown zero interest in the U.S. Constitution; Hillary at least would only go as far as trying to skirt it.

On immigration - once again the most vital and fundamental domestic issue - Trump would in effect be worse than Clinton. Donald Trump has a mass legalization plan for illegal aliens. Hillary does too. The difference is that Hillary's mass legalization plan would face opposition from most GOP leaders and almost all Trump supporters, while most GOP leaders and some segment of Trump supporters would support Trump's mass legalization plan.

If you realize how important immigration is and that it's almost completely a one-way street, then fighting Hillary's plan is better than fighting Trump's similar plan.

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[1] ricochet . com / 386528/how-i-might-be-wrong