BORDER/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WALL: “President Donald Trump sees his border wall crusade as a base-pleasing 2020 campaign asset, proof that he is the ultimate immigration hard-liner. But his wall might not be built for years, if ever. In the meantime, Trump has yet to deliver on several other campaign promises that immigration hawks call far more important — a failure that could cost the president among conservatives demanding results on border security going into his reelection bid. During two years in the White House, Trump has struggled to execute numerous agenda items long on immigration hard-liners’ wish list — like finalizing stricter regulations, overhauling the immigration court system, adding additional surveillance technology to the border, doing away with sanctuary cities and making sure employers electronically check the immigration status of all workers. Instead, Trump has picked high-profile battles over a southern border wall and banning travelers from certain Muslim-majority countries that generated controversy and whipped up parts of his base, but did not do much to stem the flow of illegal immigrants.”
–Nancy Cook and Gabby Orr, “Missing from Trump’s wall war: What immigration hawks really want,” Politico, February 26, 2019 6:34 pm