Most reasonably balanced people that I know, identify with their heritage with a degree of pride. It is significant to them to understand where they came from and how it shaped their present-day circumstances. I have always been proud of my Irish heritage, which I not too long ago learned is Welsh. Either way I am fascinated by the little snippets of history we can uncover. My lovely wife is Armenian and has the sad history of the genocide as a cloud from her past. Her parents were lucky to escape to “America” after losing many family members to the genocide. Their tenacity and foresight are admirable at so many levels and a source of pride to Josh.
Given this behavioral norm, I am puzzled beyond understanding concerning Trump’s hostility to immigrants. Look at his history. His grandfather (Friedrich) emigrated from the Palatinate, then part of Bavaria. His grandmother (Elizabeth) emigrated with Friedrich from the Palatinate. Donald Trump’s mother (Mary Anne) came from the western islands of Scotland. Trump married Ivana from the Czech Republic and his current wife, Melania, is from Slovenia. That makes his children an interesting tossed salad of ethnic diversity. Ironically, there continue to be questions about Melania’s legal visa status when she came to this country, but unless she releases her visa documents, they will continue to be speculation. I suspect the release of any documents will end up in the same folder as Cheeto’s unreleased tax forms.
How is it that he is so indifferent to the ethnic heritage that so many Americans are proud of, especially given his personal and marriage history? One could suggest that his hostility is primarily directed to non-Caucasian immigrants which is consistent with his history of bigotry. One could also suggest it is an expedient to keep his base fired up. He plays immigration the same way he plays abortion rights – a chip to seduce his base with no deeply entrenched philosophical foundation.
I admit that most of what Trump does I don’t understand outside of the context of greed, ignorance, and ego. So why should immigration policy be any different? It is clear that he has the ethnic history that should make him a friend of immigration and, perhaps, drive a desire to ‘fix’ the broken process. Unfortunately, hypocrisy again prevails at he rails about sending people with ethnic history back to ‘where they came from’ but ignores the obvious history that he brings to the table through his family heritage and through his interesting array of marriages. Perhaps this is, to quote Churchill, another riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The sad part of this scenario is that he has plenty of allies who would be happy to change his theme song to “Make America White Again.”