Thread: Donald Trump Wins Support From Parents of Illegal Immigrants’ Victims

GOP candidate’s effort parallels Hillary Clinton’s outreach to mothers of African-Americans killed in gun violence

By BETH REINHARD Updated June 6, 2016 12:01 a.m. ET

Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump is giving a national platform to parents of victims of crimes by illegal immigrants, inviting them to rallies and telling their tragic stories to boost support for hard-line immigration policies.

Mr. Trump is drawing intense media attention to what he says is a public-safety issue caused by illegal immigration. But the families also help put a sympathetic face on Mr. Trump’s attacks on some Mexican immigrants as criminals and his plans to build a wall along the southern border and deport millions of people who are in the U.S. illegally.

Two weeks ago, Sabine Durden told thousands of people at a Trump rally in Anaheim, Calif., about her 30-year-old son, Dominic, a sheriff’s dispatcher who was killed in a 2012 motorcycle accident by an illegal immigrant truck driver convicted twice of driving under the influence.

Choking back tears, she recalled: “I heard Donald Trump on the television as I walked by talking about illegal immigration and about the cost of American lives and I screamed. Donald Trump became my life savior that day, my hero…Wanting to control the border has nothing to do with racism but all to do with law and order.”

Online video of Mr. Trump kissing and signing posters of her son and other crime victims after the rally has been viewed more than 230,000 times.

In an interview, Mr. Trump said meeting the parents of children killed by illegal immigrants “reinforced even more” his support for stringent immigration laws.

“Even I didn’t realize how bad it was,” he said. “When you see these families that have been destroyed by people who aren’t supposed to be here, who are criminals…The only way people can understand how severe this crisis is is to see the families, and then they see the horror of it.”

Mr. Trump’s kinship with these grieving parents parallels Hillary Clinton’s ties to several mothers of African-Americans killed in gun violence or in confrontations with police, including Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The “mothers of the movement” have campaigned with Mrs. Clinton to push tougher gun-control laws and raise awareness about racial profiling.

The grieving families that the leading presidential candidates bring on stage reflect divergent views of America: Mrs. Clinton depicts communities, particularly urban areas, awash in gun violence in which minorities are disproportionately the victims, while Mr. Trump speaks of a porous border leading to crimes by immigrants from Mexico and the Middle East against insufficiently armed U.S. citizens.

Two weeks after he flagged crime by illegal immigrants in his June 16, 2015, campaign announcement, 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle was slain in San Francisco, allegedly by a felon who had been deported five times.

Mr. Trump seized on the murder as proof his focus on border security was on track.

Ms. Steinle’s brother, Brad, told CNN in July that Mr. Trump was “sensationalizing” her death. The Steinle family last week declined a request for comment on Mr. Trump through an attorney, Frank Pitre. “The Steinle family does not wish to involve itself in any political debate over immigration,” he said.

Mr. Trump did find an ally in Jamiel Shaw, whose 17-year-old son was gunned down in 2008 by a gang member living illegally in the U.S. “Donald Trump was right on,” Mr. Shaw told Fox News last July. “Donald Trump is like speaking for us, speaking for our dead.”

Mr. Trump saw the Fox interview and called him. Days later, he met Mr. Shaw and other parents of children killed by illegal immigrants at a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel.

“He told me my son’s death would not be in vain,” said Mr. Shaw. Later that night, Mr. Shaw got a call asking him to attend Mr. Trump’s rally the next day in Phoenix. That was his first trip on the New York billionaire’s private plane. “It was awesome,” said Mr. Shaw, a Democrat-turned-independent voter who owns a gym-equipment repair firm.

Mr. Trump also flew him, his sister and his mother to Las Vegas in December for a rally and nationally televised debate. While staying at the Trump International Hotel, Mr. Shaw cut a commercial for the candidate that aired in South Carolina before the Feb. 20 primary.

Shortly after the Beverly Hills meeting, Mr. Trump sent gift baskets bearing his “The Art of the Deal” book, chocolate and Trump-branded ties and cuff links to Mr. Shaw and the other families.

Among the parents Mr. Trump is giving voice to are blacks and Hispanics, who bring a diverse face to a candidate facing allegations of racial and ethnic prejudice, most recently for accusing a Mexican-American judge of being biased against him. Mr. Shaw, who is African-American, said he has never been contacted by any other Republican or Democratic presidential candidates. He received a letter from former President George W. Bush after his son was murdered. “Trump is the only one who called,” Mr. Shaw said. “He feels it.”

Last year’s Beverly Hills gathering was organized by Maria Espinoza, founder of the Remembrance Project, which advocates on behalf of such families. The Anti-Defamation League, which opposes discrimination, said in a 2014 report that the Remembrance Project “demonizes immigrants.” Ms. Espinoza didn’t respond to repeated interview requests.

Another parent who met Mr. Trump in Beverly Hills was Don Rosenberg, whose 25-year-old son was riding his motorcycle in San Francisco when he was struck and killed by an illegal immigrant driver in 2010.

Mr. Rosenberg is grateful Mr. Trump is drawing attention to illegal immigration but said his inflammatory references to Mexicans as “rapists” muddles his message. The self-described liberal Democrat has pressed campaign advisers to offer more detailed policy plans.

“Every speech can’t be, ‘We’re going to build a wall and Mexico will pay for it. And Kate,’ ” said Mr. Rosenberg, referring to Ms. Steinle in San Francisco. “I wanted him to be more educated about it, so I’ve been a little disappointed.”

The retired entertainment-industry executive has become a full-time political activist, studying immigration and criminal law and lobbying elected officials. The driver who killed his son, Drew, was charged with a felony but a judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor. He spent 43 days in jail.

“The frustration level is so intense, so I can see why some of these parents love Trump,” Mr. Rosenberg said. “There’s finally someone who seems to care.”

In the Journal interview, Mr. Trump attributed a “staggering” amount of crime to illegal immigration. But data is scarce. The federal government reports the ethnicity and race of offenders but not their legal status or country of origin.

“On the question of whether illegal immigrants commit crimes out of proportion to their share of the population, it’s very hard to say,” said Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors curbs on legal immigration and stricter border enforcement. “Trump may overstate the case statistically, though calling out the administration for failing to enforce the law is a public service.”

Mr. Camarota and other proponents of reduced immigration say President Barack Obama has overlooked concerns about crime while issuing executive orders to forgo deporting four million people here illegally. They often point to a Government Accountability Office report in 2011 that found an estimated 296,000 immigrants here illegally or with unknown legal status in state and local jails. That count, which includes multiple incarcerations of the same person in different jurisdictions, covers violent and nonviolent offenses. There are estimated to be 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Another indicator is the number of criminal deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During the Obama administration, deportations of criminals convicted of violent and nonviolent crimes rose every year to a high of 225,417 in 2012 before steadily decreasing to 138,894 last year.

An ICE spokeswoman didn’t offer an explanation for the rise and fall but said the department prioritizes deportations of violent criminals.

Deportations remain at record-setting numbers under Mr. Obama, and more Mexicans are leaving the U.S. than entering it, according to the Pew Research Center. Mr. Trump’s critics say his emphasis on crime tied to immigration is misguided.

“Trump’s attacks on immigrants and immigration are divisive, racist, and quite frankly, hearken back to some of the darkest periods in our nation’s history,” said Ali Noorani,executive director of the National Immigration Forum Action Fund, which backs citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Donald Trump Wins Support From Parents of Illegal Immigrants ...

“Trump’s attacks on immigrants and immigration are divisive, racist, and quite frankly, hearken back to some of the darkest periods in our nation’s history,” said Ali Noorani,executive director of the National Immigration Forum Action Fund, which backs citizenship for illegal immigrants.

What is the National Immigration Forum Action Fund??!!

Oh my .....

National Immigration Forum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
National Immigration Forum Founded 1982
Focus Value of immigrants to America
Location

Washington, DC

Website http://www.immigrationforum.org

The National Immigration Forum (also called "The Forum") advocates for the value of immigrants and immigration to America. The Forum, based in Washington, DC, is one of the nation’s premier immigration policy organizations and has been at the center of every major legislative and policy debate related to immigration since its founding in 1982. The Forum uses its communications, advocacy and policy expertise to create a better, more welcoming America that treats all newcomers fairly and respects the rights of all.

The Forum is a powerful and key advocate on numerous immigration issues, working closely with business, law enforcement, faith and immigrant leadership across the country to advance reforms to our nation’s immigration system. It has gained accreditation from the Better Business Bureau[1] and earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator.[2]

The National Immigration Forum has policy expertise and engages in communications outreach and coalition-building work with the goal of building consensus on the important role of immigrants and immigration to the United States. Ali Noorani has served as the Forum's executive director since 2008.

The Forum focuses on four main priorities: immigration reform and workforce needs, integration and citizenship, borders and interior enforcement, and state and local immigration developments (the Forum promotes the Constitutional principle that immigration law and enforcement are federal responsibilities).[3]

Aaaah, meet the traitors.

Any and everyone who is a member, a donor or who meets with or invites anyone from this outfit to testify before Congress, or who entertains or accepts donations or support from this entity needs to be exposed and dis-empowered.

National Immigration Forum funded by George Soros and Paul Singer (big Rubio donor), among others with Jeb Bush Jr on the Board of Directors

Thank you for the information, realbsball. These people are disgusting, they are the traitors destroying our nation and bankrupting our citizens.