Ga. Immigration Activists Await Clarity from Trump, Clinton

August 29th, 2016

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally in Austin, Texas, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Gerald Herbert / WABE

As Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence bounces around Georgia today and tomorrow, he’ll continue to face questions about his running mate’s shifting immigration policy proposals.

Donald Trump has said he plans to clarify his stance in a speech in Arizona on Wednesday, but until then, even one of Georgia’s staunchest opponents of illegal immigration isn’t clear about where the Trump campaign will land on the issue.

D.A. King has been an outspoken activist for years, calling for tougher immigration enforcement for Georgia. He says even he’s confused about what’s going on as Donald Trump has hedged his language on deporting 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally.

“Do I find it troubling that I am confused? Somewhat. But I depend on the candidate to run the show and not a large number of people who have their own ideas,” said King.

He said he wants to believe Trump will goes back his to original stance on immigration: swift deportation and strong enforcement.

Clark Atlanta University political scientist William Boone said Trump’s pronouncements on immigration have been “meandering.”

“There was really no policy beyond building a wall. So he didn’t have a substantive policy to begin with,” said Boone.

For Adelina Nicholls, executive director of the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, there’s no confusion about the Trump Campaign’s main goals.

“He can say whatever he wants, but he’s still friends with, for example, Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona, and for us in the immigrant rights movement, that says more than his latest words,” said Nicholls.

She said she hopes Trump’s hedging will force the Clinton campaign to come out with its own immigration proposals, something it’s been quiet on thus far. Nichols said a moratorium on deportations is something she’d like to see Hillary Clinton call for.

Boone said getting an immigration policy out of the Clinton campaign is unlikely given what some have seen as overreach by President Barack Obama on the issue.

“I don’t think the Clinton people want to get involved in all that,” said Boone, adding that Clinton “will attempt to coast along and let Trump kill himself on these questions.”