IN a typical tyrannical speech, United States Presidential candidate Donald Trump recently chose to articulate the bottom line of his immigration policy by branding immigrants as “animals and refugees from terrorist nations.” He proposed that they be barred from entry to the land of promise. The main rationale is the difficulty of vetting who are terrorists and who are not.
Lately he also suggested a ludicrous “values and ideological” test for those who wish to visit or stay, even as tourists. As if to add to his flair for tactless talk, he personally picked on Filipinos as a prime example of the animals that cannot be allowed to set foot on US shores because the Philippines is a terrorist state.
Across the board racist branding
OF course, this is not his first time. He earlier accused other immigrants, the Mexicans, in particular, as drug traffickers, rapists and criminals. All these in order to stop Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the surge of radical Islamic terrorism around the world. But he did not stop there. He also opted to attack communists, socialists and all other sectors that have ideologies opposed to his extreme right wing world view.
In short, he lumped all nonwhite persons in his list of undesirables that should be included in his proposed ban. The Ku Klux Clan will pale in comparison to his sweeping generalizations. Clearly a desperate attempt to put Hillary Clinton and her glass ceiling down the drain.
Risky foreign-policy strategy
The evident gap in Trump’s strategy stems from his stark ignorance of the lessons of history, which show that acts of racial elitism, hatred and scorn only foment more reactionary acts of violence and retribution. His open anti-Muslim sentiments would increase militancy and further catapult ISIS as the redeemer of persecuted Muslim nations around the world. What about the US and other world leaders’ efforts to stop the protracted war in the Middle East? His very own soldiers, diplomats, professionals who are all scattered and sacrificing in the Middle East and Europe are now at risk with his very dangerous and incendiary statements. And he arrogantly calls this his foreign policy.
Wrong politics
Mr. Trump is absolutely clueless about how to effectively woe solid voters. Before making discriminatory remarks, he should have ordered his team to check how many Filipino immigrants there are in his country.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, the Philippines is one of the top countries of origin and was the fourth largest in 2014, accounting for 4.5 percent of the 41.3 million total immigrant population in the United States. The Filipino community leaped from 105,000 in the early 1960s to 1.85 million in 2013. This increase can be attributed to the stable and harmonious economic and sociopolitical relations between the US and the Philippines. This migration was further increased with the opening up of academic opportunities for Filipinos in many of its major universities.
The US government, and no less than President Barack Obama, cited the talent and skills of Filipinos. And he also recognized their contributions to the growth of his country’s economy and protection of its security. Many Filipinos diligently work in the service sectors, the military and in government. Mr. Trump’s failure to recognize the huge potential of Filipinos to rally around his candidacy is a grievous campaign strategy error.
Now he has antagonized the bulk of them and others of the same sentiments. Perhaps, other Asians would sympathize and rally behind their racial brothers.
Historical alliance disregarded
Finally, it bears stressing that the Philippines is one of the most avid supporters of the US in the military, political and economic fronts. The current Visiting Forces Agreement, joint military exercises, the Terrorist Interdiction Program, law enforcement-cooperation activities and the continuous flow of military assistance to the country is a testament to the solid cooperation between the two countries to combat terrorism and other forms of security threats on a global scale.
We have valiantly fought side by side during the desperate moments of World War II and the succeeding Korean War. We stood by them during the long decades of the Cold War against the Russians. We provided them with the largest naval and air force bases outside their mainland. The Filipinos were consistently loyal to the Americans—almost to a fault.
It is simply incredulous for a world power to allow animals from a terrorist country to engage in its own anti-terrorism initiatives. A paradox. But maybe, just maybe, Mr. Trump does not understand what a paradox is since he proudly escaped and dodged joining the US military when he had the chance to serve. He probably just understands what is plainly obvious to the senses. And nothing beyond that.
Case closed. Let us see in November. We trust that the Americans will not make the mistake of electing him. Otherwise, they will put the entire world at risk and shame the national values that kept their country great.