Democrats pledging freebies to illegal immigrants is prescription for Trump victory – Washington Examiner

All ten Democratic presidential candidates on stage tonight just gave a huge gift to President Trump by saying they would have government — meaning taxpayers — finance healthcare for illegal immigrants in this country.

One need not be an anti-immigrant hard-liner to resent having illegal immigrants come here to gain free stuff, rather than work for it. If there is any stance sure to turn off working-class Americans, the ones Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio rightly identified last night as the key constituency for winning the 2020 election, it is the idea of having their tax money go to people whose first act on American soil was to break our laws.

Polls are clear on this issue. Rasmussen published one on June 18 showing that 55% of Americans would oppose making government health benefits available to those here illegally, while only 31% support the idea. Yet so far divorced from reality are these candidates that all ten eagerly raised their hands when asked if they would have taxpayers finance such benefits.

Trump himself recognizes the political gift he just received. Almost immediately, he tweeted this: “All Democrats just raised their hands for giving millions of illegal aliens unlimited healthcare. How about taking care of American citizens first!? That’s the end of that race!”

There is something to be said for having compassion for people who have been here and tried to build a life through hard work. Democratic leaders, though, act as if it is actually a good thing that these people have come, even illegally. They constantly strive not just to deal with the reality of millions of these aliens, but to make it more and more attractive for them to come.

This is not what most Americans want. Most Americans want fewer illegal immigrants, not more, no matter how what policies they want to adopt to handle the situation. But these Democrats on stage keep advocating policies that make the United States a magnet for migrants. It is this magnetism itself that causes the human tragedies we see at the border. They are tragedies caused not by cruelty by U.S. policymakers, but by the government being overwhelmed with too many people flowing to the border.

Trump will pound this issue next year for all he is worth. And, unless the Democratic nominee walks back the pledge to provide free care to these immigrants, Trump will win.