Trump May Declare National Emergency over Border Wall: US Analyst

“If the Democrats and Trump don’t come to a negotiated deal, I think he will go the national emergency route, claiming that the Democrats refused to compromise,” Jim W. Dean, the managing editor of VeteransToday.com, told Tasnim in an interview.

Jim Dean is a regular geopolitical commentator on various media outlets around the world. He and Sr. Editor Gordon Duff have begun their own bridge building campaign with Iranian university youth via Skype conferences. Jim comes from an old military family going back to the American Revolution.

Following is the full text of the interview:

Tasnim: US President Donald Trump on Saturday once again pledged that the wall on the southern border will be built, a day after he agreed to temporarily reopen the government for three weeks without funding for a wall -- but warned that “both parties (are) very dug in.” What do you think about the reasons behind the disputes in the US government and how do you predict the future?   

Dean: The border wall has become a political football. Trump wants to kick off his 2020 campaign showing that he can deliver on his promised border wall. The Democrats don’t want him to get that political wind in his sails; and since they have control of the House now, they are under a lot of pressure to deliver a defeat to Trump to inspire the Democratic base to work hard to unseat Trump in 2020.

As for the public, the wall has a lot of support, as illegal immigration has long been a big problem. The US formal immigration process is just ignored now by most. One woman from the last episode of the convoy from Central America stated her reason for wanting to get into the US was that she had an abusive husband. Many Americans don’t want the doors thrown open to those that make up their own rules.

The political history on immigration is mixed. The Republicans wanted them here as cheap farm laborers, and the California Growers Association made Ronald Reagan governor. He delivered what they wanted, and that launched him to eventually becoming president. This is a huge political battle that neither side feels they can afford to lose. They will do anything to win.

Tasnim: The budget impasse over the wall has resulted in the longest government shutdown in history, one that left thousands of federal workers without pay. Amnesty International USA also recently said Trump’s “unacceptable” proposal on border fails to protect human rights. What do you think about the human rights violations surrounding this issue?

Dean: The human rights issue is an invented one. The US has a long history of immigration, particularly during its expansion time. My mother’s people were British, Scotch-Irish, and my father’s Polish. They came legally. The American people have the right to have the rules and regulations for immigration followed just like the people of Iran do.

When I lived in Barbados, a 96% black country, they dealt with illegal workers quite simply. The police visited you at dinner time and told you to have your bags packed and ready to go to the airport in the morning and funds to buy a ticket.

In the US, large numbers of those claiming asylum are put into a legal system where they are released and they never show up for their court hearing. In the southern United States, there used to be black maids working at all the hotels and motels. They are literally all gone now, replaced by Hispanics, which the hotels prefer. No one was concerned about their human rights, only higher profits.

The Democrats always wanted open immigration, as immigrants tend to congregate in cities where there are a lot of financial subsidies; and 90% of all Hispanics who become citizens vote Democratic.  The human rights issue is just a screen for increasing Democratic political power.

Tasnim: Trump says he will declare a national emergency if there is no deal with Congress by mid-February. Declaring a national emergency would allow Trump to bypass Congress and use existing money to start building the border wall.  What do you think? Is he edging closer to declaring the emergency?

Dean: If the Democrats and Trump don’t come to a negotiated deal, I think he will go the national emergency route, claiming that the Democrats refused to compromise. US media reported after the New Year that the Defense Department had $25 billion of its 2018 budget left unspent that remained in the Treasury.

Trump will blame all the shutdown suffering on the Democrats to energize his base. The Democrats already energized their base in the midterm elections by taking the House, so 2020 will see every trick or tool used by either party to gain power or not lose it.

Both parties are motivated to get their hands on America’s trillion-dollar red-ink budget to take care of their own people. That is the sad state of affairs we are in now. Our children and grandchildren are being buried under a debt which they will never be able to repay, a sad legacy shared by both parties.