Donald Trump has outline exactly he plans to get Mexico to pay for the 1,000-mile-long border wall to keep out illegal immigrants when he is president.
In a two-page memo, Trump argues that he can use changes in existing law – and his executive authority a president – to keep illegal immigrants from sending money to Mexico.
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Called “remittances,” they amount to about $24 billion – a huge chunk of Mexico’s struggling economy.
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Until Mexico paid up – “a one-time payment of $5-10 billion,” he writes, the flow of money would stop. “It’s an easy decision for Mexico,” he wrote.
After Mexico pays up, the remittances could continue to “flow into their country year after year.”
The Washington Post, which received the memo, argues that while Trump’s plan would face legal hurdles, it is possible. Trump’s plan calls for making a change to the Federal Register. He could technically arbitrarily invoke that change by executive order if he declares a “national emergency” that must be addressed immediately before it becomes a threat to public health or safety.
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But since the changes to the Federal Register don’t actually address immigration, it might be difficult to justify an “emergency.”
After reviewing Trump’s proposal, one expert on immigration law said he is skeptical.
“Trump is giving an extremely broad definition of this section of the Patriot Act and what it allows, and it’d surely be litigated,” said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, a nonpartisan think tank in Virginia. “It would be a large expansion beyond what the text reads.”
There is one snafu: Trump has promised to deport all illegal aliens from the country. If he does that, there will be no illegal aliens to send remittances to Mexico in the first place, and no flow of money to stop.
The memo is titled “Compelling Mexico to Pay for the Wall,” and is the latest attempt by the Republican presidential front-runner to offer more specifics about his proposal at a time when he faces tough head winds, including a potential loss Tuesday to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in Wisconsin’s Republican primary.
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Trump ends with a scathing critique of Mexico, claiming that it has “taken advantage” of the United States for years through “gangs, drug traffickers and cartels” responsible for “the extraordinary daily cost of this criminal activity.”
“We have the moral high ground here, and all the leverage,” Trump concludes.
