Nearly a year and a half into the Trump presidency, his immigration policy is best graded as an incomplete. The much-touted wall along the Mexican border is still in the planning stages and far short of the funding total it will need, while Congress or the courts have stifled or stalled other plans. Nevertheless, most of the President's supporters are giving him the benefit of the doubt. According to a new Harvard/Harris Poll, 85 percent of Trump supporters and 76 percent of Republican voters overall approve of his handling of immigration.
Not everyone is buying it. William Gheen with Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), who supported Trump in 2016, is disappointed in the President's immigration action—or inaction---so far. "There's no wall, he didn't stop the caravan of illegal aliens, there hasn't been any significant increase in deportations," says Gheen. "The President has spent most of his time trying to cut a deal on DACA to give amnesty to illegal immigrants, which he never mentioned during the campaign."
The results at the border under President Trump have also been mixed so far. While crossings were down significantly during the early months of his administration, this year has seen a new surge in illegal crossings.
Gheen believes the President is in serious trouble if he doesn't start listening to the voters who elected him rather than the politicians and bureaucrats who now surround him in D.C. "The public wants our existing borders and laws enforced, not amnesty," says Gheen. "The focus in Washington and the focus of the Trump Administration has unfortunately been amnesty for illegal immigrants, and that's why we have a new unprecedented surge of illegals on our border."