Why I'm not buying Trump's claim that he'll work with Democrats to protect DREAMers

One of the things I've been thinking about over the last few days is how I'm going to deal with four more years of the daily onslaught of ignorance, lies, racism, and sexism spewing from the mouth of our next president. Part of the problem is that I'm in my "twighlight years," and don't have a lot of time to waste. It depresses me to think that much of that time will be consumed by anger and despair over the state of our country. But I can't simply ignore it all either. 

That dilemma was brought home today with the reporting about Trump's interview with Kristen Welker. In typical fashion, the president-elect said a lot of stupid, ignorant stuff. But given that I'm going to do my best to focus on his plans for immigration, I want to take a few minutes to break down some of the nonsense he spouted. 

Here is a summary of what he's promising to do:

• Deport every undocumented immigrant,
• End birthright citizenship, and
• Work with Democrats to protect DREAMers.

Estimates are that the cost of deporting 11 million undocmented immigrants would be around $300 billion - not to mention the humanitarian disaster it would be or the devastation it would bring to our economy. 

According to Pew Research, there are currently about 4.4 million U.S.-born children who live with an undocumented parent. During his interview with Welker, Trump said (1) they'd be deported with their parents, and (2) he'd end birthright citizenship. That means tossing out provisions of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Here's what's at stake with that one:

Amidst all of that, it might sound jarring that trump is promising to work with Democrats to protect DREAMers. But don't pin your hopes on anything positive on that front. All we have to do is remember what happened during his first term.

Trump has always talked positively about DREAMers. But in 2018, a bipartisan group of senators worked out a compromise that would protect them from deportation - as well as increase border funding and place limits on legal immigration. Trump signaled that he would support their work. 

But when the senators showed up at the White House to discuss their proposal, they were ambushed - most likely by Stephen Miller. Unbeknownst to the bipartisan group, several immigration hardliners attended the meeting - which ultimately became famous for Trump's comments about not wanting immigrants from "shithole countries." In other words, that proposal met the same fate as the bipartisan border bill this year. So excuse me if I don't put much stock in that promise. It's all a shit show of ignorance, lies, and racism. 

The next four years are going to be exhausting - at best.