What about the illegal ...yes we are, speeding up processing, speeding up deportations
visa rules have already been tightened and legal migration will begin to fall
whats your solution?
Speeding up processing, speeding deportationsWhat about the illegal ...
For Mr Trump, the exchange could hardly have gone better, a crystallising demonstration to the world in how an adversary can be blown away by use of the White House’s bully pulpit.
Reform will have a solution when they get in. What’s Labours solution?If you have any great ideas how to stop them leaving France…..do pipe up. Tories had no solution, Reform have no solution….maybe you do
TLDNR.All told, it took less than nine hours for Colombia’s president to move from dismissing Donald Trump as a “white enslaver” to offering him the services of his private plane.
On Sunday afternoon, Gustavo Petro refused to accept two scheduled deportation flights from the US, citing a lack of “dignity” in the process.
Initially, he appeared to bank on Mr Trump abiding by the kind of diplomatic norms that would typically apply between the US and one of its key allies in Latin America.
“I do not shake the hands of white enslavers,” Mr Petro frothed.
But Mr Trump’s reply prompted a gymnastic volte-face: should Mr Petro not relent, the president warned, the US would impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Colombian imports, rising to 50 per cent after a week.
Colombian government officials would also have their visas revoked – and as the ban extended to “associates”, any sons or daughters enrolled in US universities could soon find their studies rudely interrupted.
These are not the kind of measures one applies to a friendly nation, still less one that is America’s chief ally in the regional fight against drug cartels.
But they worked. On Monday morning, Mr Petro’s office said it would make the presidential plane available to bring deportees back to the country, allowing the deportation flights to go ahead as scheduled.
The US suspended the tariffs, but said it would only remove the visa bans once the planes had landed.
For Mr Trump, the exchange could hardly have gone better, a crystallising demonstration to the world in how an adversary can be blown away by use of the White House’s bully pulpit.
So much the better that, in this case, the defeated party was a “socialist” who made his name in guerrilla warfare.
America, Mr Trump is making clear, can fight dirty too.
The exchange will have been most closely watched by two other international minnows currently sparring with Mr Trump: Greenland and Panama.
Even if the president does not follow through on somewhat idle threats to invade the two states, which sit on the periphery of America’s direct geographical sphere of influence, he could get some of what he wants through fear alone.
Denmark has already announced it will spend $1.5bn (£1.2bn) stepping up the defence of Greenland, with plans for more patrol ships and increased drone surveillance to counter any infiltration by Russia or China.
José Raúl Mulino, the president of Panama, will not let Mr Trump retake control of the 51 mile (82km) canal connecting the Caribbean to the Pacific. He is unlikely to lower costs for transiting US cargo ships, as the canal is bound by regulations over neutrality.
But Panama would be unwise to allow China any further foothold in the region, with Mr Trump’s ire provoked by the presence of two ports controlled by a Hong Kong-based company at either end of the waterway.
America could also be offered knock-down investment opportunities in the canal’s operations in an attempt to encourage Mr Trump to cast his gaze elsewhere.
Naturally, the president’s use of his bully pulpit has attracted envious glances abroad. Britain is mired in its own apparently interminable struggle to deport illegal migrants and failed asylum-seekers.
Could Sir Keir Starmer shrug off his lawyers robes and bully his way to a victory here?
The short answer is, not really. Unlike the US, Britain has few nations that depend on its goodwill for their economic success. Its top 10 trade partners include China, Switzerland, Singapore and Saudi Arabia, none of whose citizens are fleeing to the UK, nor would give much of a fig if Downing Street started playing British Bulldog.
Those countries whose citizens do illegally cross the Channel, such as Bangladesh and Iran, have precious little trade with the UK. Britain cannot force France, backed by the European Union, to take back channel migrants.
Bribing Rwanda to do that job also got nowhere. If Trump’s America is the XL bully on the world stage, Britain must accept it is now more of a cocker spaniel.
But Sir Keir could show some teeth in other ways.
Last month Jens Spahn, a leading figure in Germany’s likely next governing party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), raised the prospect of Berlin withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), citing the difficulties it presents to the deportation of foreign criminals.
“It is not ordained by God” that Germany be a member, he said.
“We are convinced multilateralists, but there has to be some benefit, too.”
Sir Keir has sworn he will not withdraw the UK from the treaty: Britain’s pursuit of better trade terms with the EU is partly reliant on shared membership.
But the prime minister could seek to build an alliance for reform alongside Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and other nations pushing for more radical measures to combat illegal migration.
And there are some places, still, where Britain holds sway – namely, the overseas territories.
Could Sir Keir set up an offshore processing centre for asylum seekers in the Falkland Islands, as the Policy Exchange think tank proposed last week?
If Mr Trump occupied Downing Street, round two would surely already have started…
More likely for the innocent people caught up in the dragnet and forced from their homes for crimes they did not commit.Selena Gomez was shedding tears for the deported murderers, rapists, drug dealers etc. The wokey's just don't know what to do when constructive action is actually taken.
Tom Homan's blunt response to Selena Gomez and her tears for migrants
Spearheading the immigration overhaul is border czar Tom Homan - who has issued a scathing response to a teary-eyed Selena Gomez, who expressed her upset over the deportations.www.dailymail.co.uk
Selena Gomez was shedding tears for the deported murderers, rapists, drug dealers etc. The wokey's just don't know what to do when constructive action is actually taken.
Selena Gomez was shedding tears for the deported murderers, rapists, drug dealers etc
So it’s woke if you have some sympathy for people who might’ve been living in America for many years and working hard…..making America great.The wokey's just don't know what to do when constructive action is actually taken.
He doesn’t careMore likely for the innocent people caught up in the dragnet and forced from their homes for crimes they did not commit.
Are you in favour of a blanket ban that ensnares the innocent?
If you're in a country illegally, you're not innocent in that context.More likely for the innocent people caught up in the dragnet and forced from their homes for crimes they did not commit.
Are you in favour of a blanket ban that ensnares the innocent?