Sunday, June 26, 2016

Byron York: The overlooked substance in Donald Trump's speech

Byron York: The overlooked substance in Donald Trump's speech 

Most coverage of Donald Trump's speech in New York Wednesday has focused on his attacks on Hillary Clinton. Or the fact that he read the speech from a teleprompter. Or the fact that it came amid a period of disorder and change in his campaign.

But Trump included actual substance in the speech — new policy proposals and promises — that escaped many observers. In a series of pledges to take action in his first 100 days as president, Trump said he would move on trade, business regulation, energy, and several other topics.

One area in which Trump promised to take extensive and quick executive action is immigration, with a pledge to "change immigration rules to give unemployed Americans an opportunity to fill good-paying jobs."

What Trump meant is that there are parts of U.S. immigration policy — significant parts — that could be changed through executive action, or regulation, or simply enforcing existing law. For example, there are programs for the admission of foreign workers — the various alphabet programs like H-1B visas, EB-2 and EB-3 green cards, etc. — that have weak or nonexistent requirements that businesses hire, or try to hire, an American first. It's a concept that has huge public support, but one the government does not enforce. A President Trump could change that, on his own authority.

Read more at: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-the-overlooked-substance-in-donald-trumps-speech/article/2594788