The Far left is calling for no borders and an end to immigration and customs enforcement. With the win of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez many mainstream democrats have embraced some of the far-left rhetoric.The Democratic Socialists of America are calling for no borders, most Americans won't get behind that and with Dems now embracing similar rhetoric I have to wonder if the far-left is actually helping Trump and the republicans in the upcoming elections.SUPPORT JOURNALISM. Become a patron athttp://www.patreon.com/TimcastSupport the show (http://timcast.com/donate)
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic Socialist and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
She recently won in New York's 14th congressional district in a huge upset.
No one thought she was going to win.
She was 36 points behind and She's a democratic socialist!
People really didn't think that was going to happen.
But following her victory, many mainstream politicians have started embracing some of her rhetoric.
Bill de Blasio and Kirsten Gillibrand have recently called for abolishing ICE.
In response to the moving left of this rhetoric, the right has said that they are now inadvertently campaigning for Donald Trump because most Americans don't agree with getting rid of immigration enforcement.
But the rhetoric actually goes a bit further than that, because the Democratic Socialists of America have repeatedly called for no borders and no nations, a particularly extreme position.
So then I'm wondering, if the rhetoric is going this far, flat out calling for no borders, and the average American likes America, are they really inadvertently campaigning for Donald Trump?
Are they actually going to help him win a second term?
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So I really do recommend you head over to virtualshield.com slash deal slash timcast A few days ago, I saw this tweet from Ian Bremmer.
It says, In the photo, you can see this big banner.
Abolish ICE, Abolish Profit.
One sign says, No Borders.
One sign says, No Ban.
And several of the signs say, No Borders, No Nations, No Deportations.
These signs and this rhetoric is coming from the Democratic Socialists of America, and this was not an isolated incident.
These protests have actually happened all over the country.
In many different photos, you can see basically the same thing.
No borders, no nations, no deportations, abolish ICE.
In New York, we have this sign.
DSA has no borders.
Miami DSA posted this banner, no ban, no wall, no borders at all.
And in Louisville, Kentucky, abolish ICE, no borders.
And it's not just the DSA.
There are people on the left holding signs saying abolish borders, abolish prisons, abolish ICE now.
And these are people protesting the family separations, so this rhetoric is going far and wide.
When we see people active in politics out in the streets holding signs saying no borders at not just one protest but numerous protests, when we see the rhetoric from the Democratic Socialists of America saying the same thing and one of their members and someone they endorsed actually wins in Congress, It seems to me like this rhetoric is actually manifesting in politics and possibly spreading among the left.
And it's not just my opinion.
This story from CNN.
The movement to abolish ICE is heating up and going mainstream.
Calls to eliminate the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, for years relegated to
the far left corners of progressive activism, have been thrust this week into the mainstream
of democratic politics.
Cracks in the dam became visible 10 days ago when a group of demonstrators confronted Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at a Mexican restaurant in Washington.
They called for an end to the Trump administration policy that resulted in separating migrant families at the border and rival protest heated up began to chant, Abolish ICE.
It goes on to mention the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and then says,
Two days after Ocasio-Cortez's primary, Kirsten Gillibrand became the first senator
and potential 2020 candidate to announce her support for the agency's elimination.
Less than 12 hours later, on Friday morning, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the chorus,
telling WNYC's Brian Lehrer, ICE's time has come and gone.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, Elizabeth Warren wrote, The president's deeply immoral actions have made it obvious
that we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by
replacing ICE with something that reflects our values, a line that mirrored her statements in a speech
at a protest in Boston.
CNN yesterday ran this op-ed by Julian Zelizer.
Abolish ICE is a massive political mistake.
On a Saturday when Americans across the country took to the streets to protest President Donald Trump's hardline shift on immigration policy, more and more prominent Democrats, from Elizabeth Warren to Kirsten Gillibrand, used their voices to advocate for ending ICE as we know it.
He says according to a Pew Research Center poll, Democrats enjoyed a 14-point advantage in handling immigration before the family separation started, and according to a CNN poll, two-thirds of Americans opposed the president's decisions to take children from their parents.
Moving the public discussion towards an abstract bureaucratic body and the need for government reorganization could easily dampen the fervor that was so evident on the streets of America Saturday.
It can also divert attention from the president himself.
He was on to say that ICE is not a government body that most Americans know about.
With Democrats attacking ICE, the administration has been given an opening to paint its opponents as extreme, radical, and a threat to national security.
Even though we are long overdue for a rigorous debate over our immigration system, A call to abolish anything makes it sound as if the proponents want the entire system to go away.
The op-ed is basically saying that they're shifting the debate away from where they're actually strongest.
Talking about ending family separation, most people agree with that.
But shifting to abolishing ICE is confusing for most people and, as he pointed out, makes it feel like these people want to end law enforcement and it's a rather extreme position.
So let's take a look at Gallup and see where Americans actually stand on the issue of immigration and illegal immigration.
When asked about expanding the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, 24% strongly favor, 17% favor, 23% oppose, and 34% strongly oppose.
The majority on this matter, though it's pretty divided, oppose building a border wall.
When asked about granting citizenship to DREAMers, 40% strongly favor, 43% favor, 83% of people polled believe that children who were brought here illegally should be given a chance to become US citizens if they meet certain requirements over a period of time.
On the question of whether or not sanctuary cities should be banned, Most people are in favor of banning sanctuary cities, and around 46% oppose, although it is a very divided number.
Keep in mind, immigration and customs enforcement deals with internal matters of immigration and customs, and the customs and border protection deal with people entering or leaving the country.
When asked if you had to choose, what should be the main focus of the U.S.
government in dealing with the issue of illegal immigration?
Halting the flow of illegal immigrants or deal with immigrants in the U.S.
illegally?
In the latest poll in 2016, 45% feel that we should halt the flow of illegal immigrants, but 51% felt that we should deal with immigrants in the U.S.
illegally.
In which case, most Americans would probably prefer ICE over custom and border protection.
So, I have to wonder if the abolish ICE rhetoric could actually hurt the left in this matter.
Now, it would seem that, for the most part, Americans are in favor of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants across the board.
Although it's a relatively divided issue, the majority is on the side of creating a path to citizenship.
So that could effectively hurt Donald Trump in his re-election campaign, should he run for one.
But the question I have is, with the victory of Ocasio-Cortez, is it likely that the call for no borders from the DSA is going to have a negative impact on the left when it comes to the midterms this year?
A lot of people have said that mainstream Democrats aren't calling for no borders.
It's just the DSA.
But with Ocasio-Cortez's victory, she is a mainstream Democrat.
But we also saw this story from May of 2018.
Keith Ellison sports I Don't Believe in Borders t-shirt.
A video posted online Monday shows a Democratic Party leader wearing a t-shirt calling for an end to U.S.
borders while participating in a local May Day parade in Minnesota last Friday.
Democratic National Committee Deputy Chair Keith Ellison.
And not only that, this story from The Hill.
Ex-Clinton aide.
fronteras. In English that translates to I don't believe in borders. And not only
that this story from the Hill. Ex-Clinton aide. 84% of Americans support turning
undocumented immigrants over to authorities. Prominent Democratic pollster
Mark Penn said on Thursday that a vast majority of Americans don't really
support so-called sanctuary cities that shield immigrants in the country
Maybe she's not representative of most Americans.
Penn, who served as chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, revealed
that 84% of Americans favor turning undocumented immigrants over to federal agents.
So then maybe Ocasio-Cortez's win was a fluke.
Maybe she's not representative of most Americans.
And if that is the case, then embracing her rhetoric could spell trouble for the Democrats
in the midterm election.
This story from the New York Post.
Most voters stayed home for stunning Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez win.
It says, even in the most competitive races Tuesday, more than 80% of eligible voters stayed home.
In the race that caused an earthquake in the Democratic Party, 28-year-old newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset longtime rep Joe Crowley 57% to 42%.
But only about 13% of registered Democrats turned out to vote in the 14th congressional district, In a district of 700,000 people, only 27,000 people voted.
and the Bronx according to a preliminary City of Board Elections tally.
There are 214,750 active registered Democratic voters in the district.
Only 27,744 voted.
And Ocasio-Cortez won by more than 4,000 votes.
In a district of 700,000 people, only 27,000 people voted.
That is extreme voter apathy.
So it's kind of shocking to see that although she did win, it is a small minority that ended
In fact, only around 13% came out to vote in the first place.
In the last primary that Joe Crowley was in, he was uncontested.
So it is hard to say if this is good or bad.
But what we can say is most people did not vote.
And of the people who did vote, 52% voted for Ocasio-Cortez.
That is a very small amount of people to vote in favor of a Democratic Socialist.
So, in my opinion, with all of these mainstream Democrats supporting this kind of rhetoric, and people like Keith Ellison wearing shirts that say, I don't believe in borders, this is going to spell problems for the Democratic Party coming into the midterms.
Most people, Don't want to see America dissolved.
Most people don't have a problem with immigration enforcement.
This rhetoric is pretty extreme.
And to me it feels like, as the rhetoric moves further and further left, the platform in which the average liberal in this country can stand on is getting smaller.
And now we're seeing the walk away campaign.
The media is embracing Alexandria Cortez.
But I have to imagine that Americans have pride.
They have cultural identity.
So even if there is sound policy coming from the DSA, they're going to be concerned about people who are calling for no borders.
They're going to be concerned about people who are chanting, make California Mexico again.
And they're going to be concerned about people who are marching through their streets with Mexican flags.
People in this country, they like America overwhelmingly.
So I have to wonder what will happen if this rhetoric continues.
But let me know what you think in the comments below and we'll keep the conversation going.
