[ChemicalWarfare]

I'm no fan of Mr. Trump but the very reason he is able to exploit the weak border control issue is due to the fact that it has been ignored far too long.

Unless of course you're equating "enforcing existing immigration policies" with "xenophobia" which would render most of the world's countries "xenophobic".

[JoeAltmaier]

Nah, its the part about painting our neighbors as rapists and thieves. Classic xenophobic rants.

[ChemicalWarfare]

I was referring to the "build the wall" reference in the comment I replied to. And yes, he tends to run his mouth without fact-checking which is one of the reasons I don't like him.

That said though - the core issue he is exploiting is an undeniable failure of the federal government to address the illegal immigration problem. It's a huge issue that has been swept under the rug and is there to be exploited by a politician like Trump who positions himself as a "non mainstream politician".

Violent[ish] protests staged by the left waving mexican flags and burning american flags only helps his agenda.

[Chathamization]

More Mexicans have left the U.S. then came to the U.S. during Obama's presidency. I don't think the xenophobia comments are about enforcing existing immigration policies, but rather that Trump seems to be greatly exaggerating the problem in order to scapegoat a particular group of people.

There just isn't any evidence that this is a major problem in general, and constantly trying to whip up fear about it is xenophobic (and also causes serious problems for many people who are here legally).

[ChemicalWarfare]

Millions of illegal immigrants (~11 mil by DHS estimates) and porous border through which they come and go as they please is definitely a problem.

And no, pointing these out as important issues that need attention is not "xenophobic" even if some politicians (or ppl in general) are afraid of addressing these for fear of being labeled a "xenophobic hate monger" :)

[Chathamization]

> Millions of illegal immigrants (~11 mil by DHS estimates) and porous border through which they come and go as they please is definitely a problem.

That number is down 1 million from the DHS estimate of 12 million in 2007. That population has shrunk, yet the total U.S. population has grown by 20+ million during the same time period. It's hard to see how rational people would see this as a major problem (or in the case of many Trump supports, their number one issue).

[ChemicalWarfare]

are you telling me 11 million ppl being here illegally coming and going as they please is not a problem?

sure, the numbers fluctuate up and down driven by many factors - economy, laws etc that doesn't change the fact that we have a porous border and a huge number of illegals.