By Harassing Nancy Pelosi, Immigration 'Activists' are Making it Easier for Trump to Deport Children

 Earlier today, Leftist immigration "activists" decided that their time would be best spent in San Francisco by harassing House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi at her Dream Act rally. Activists chanted "No border, no nation, stop deportation!", and held up signs demanding things ranging from open borders to protecting all 11 million undocumented immigrants.

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer last week won a surrender from Donald Trump on the issue of protecting Dreamers, and they extracted the agreement without Trump's border wall as being part of the deal. They did, however, agree that border security and enforcement would be enhanced. While there is no legislation to consider yet, the activists are evidently irate that enforcement was allowed to be included as part of the deal, and their demands... to the extent they had any positive demands at all, were as disparate as their signs.

During one prolonged tirade, people claiming to be 'undocumented youth' (looking at the chanters, I find it hard to believe that they were all undocumented), demanded that they not be "a bargaining chip", and that a 'clean' Dream Act pass without enforcement. Interrupting Pelosi at another point, they chanted "All 11 million!" in reference to the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US, whom one assumes they wanted to be legalized immediately.

Even the demands of a 'clean' Dream Act and comprehensive immigration reform ("all 11 million!) are not the same, not to mention that comprehensive immigration reform has always included beefed up border enforcement, which the assembled mob could not be more against.

Put it all together, and the chants and the demands amount to nothing more than incoherent emotional blobbery, with no productive organization or positive agenda. 

This lack of a coherent and unified agenda is, of course, one of the key hallmarks of the rabid Left on nearly every issue, and this mindset is one of the main reasons that despite the American people supporting a progressive agenda, conservatives continue to run (and ruin) this country.

I understand that being a realist is super tiring, as it involves actually treating politics as what it is: the art of the possible. Being a realist demands that we examine current political climate, current legislative numbers, current votes available, and forge a path that gets as close to a progressive direction as possible.

Being an idealist chomping for outrage is, on the other hand, much more fun. You can disregard reality, pound your fist, and never have to feel responsible for anything or anyone.

Yet here we are, a small corner of political pragmatists and realists in the vast internet dominated by ideologues. Here I am, still caring about the implications of policy on people, in the age of Trump.

The reality is this: a 'clean' Dream Act will not pass this Republican Congress and will not be signed by this Republican (I just threw up a little in my mouth) president. You can hope for it, scream for it, demand it, dance about it. You can disparage Democrats - who are the only reason there is even a ray of possibility that Dreamers will not be deported - and you can shout down Nancy Pelosi. None of it will make a 'clean' Dream Act an iota more likely.

In fact, it can make it less likely. Visible, coordinated opposition to the Dream Act compromise will only give Republicans - who are already predisposed to throw out as many people of color as possible, documented or not, immigrants or not - an excuse to refuse to act at all. It can make it easy for Republicans make the case that the Dream Act is slippery slope, and that Democrats will really stop at nothing short of 'amnesty'. And whatever you think is right, the vast majority of Americans are still opposed to amnesty. Certainly, Republicans in Congress won't have any trouble selling an anti-amnesty message to their constituents.

Make no mistake, the Dream Act is popular because it limits its benefits to people who were brought into this country as children, and as such, by and large did not make the decision to cross the border without documentation. The Dream Act carries support across the political spectrum because Americans generally oppose holding children responsible for the actions of adults responsible for them. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer is able to roll Trump on this because of the limited nature of the Dream Act.

Boosting unspecified aspects of border security is the price Democrats will be required to pay in order to permanently legalize Dreamers when there is a Republican Congress and a Republican administration. It is the price they will demand to placate their constituents and earn their votes. Pelosi could get every Democrat together for a clean Dream Act and it would not matter. She needs, and Schumer needs, Republican votes. The easiest out they could give Republicans is to insist on the exclusion of border security measures, allowing them to walk away with their righteous indignation that Democrats don't want a secure border.

What if that happened? It would mean the end of DACA, and the end of any Dream Act, leaving the lane wide open for Trump's ICE to deport those formerly protected by DACA.

So the question for activists and advocates, today, is not whether they prefer a 'clean' Dream Act or a compromise version paired with increased border enforcement. The choice is whether they want - and will push for - the current Dream Act compromise, or oppose it, allowing the deportation of Dreamers.

Pragmatist that I am, it appears to me that the 'compromise' permanently legalizing Dreamers is a far better option than the 'principled' stupidity that will end up deporting them instead.