Donald Trump’s wish that immigrants only came from rich white countries is cruel. (Op-Ed)
Donald Trump complained about a lack of immigrants to the US from “nice” countries “like Denmark [or] Switzerland,” offering millionaire donors at a Florida fundraiser a reprise of his infamously racist statement about people coming to America from “shithole countries.” While he did not use the term “shithole countries” as he did in 2018, his cruel, racist sentiment remains. Trump does not view immigrants as actual people unless they hail from a rich, predominantly white, European nation.
According to the New York Times, which cited an unnamed attendee at the Saturday event in Palm Beach, Trump told his audience: “These are people coming in from prisons and jails. They’re coming in from just unbelievable places and countries, countries that are a disaster. And when I said, you know, ‘Why can’t we allow people to come in from nice countries,’ I’m trying to be nice. Nice countries, you know like Denmark, Switzerland? Do we have any people coming in from Denmark? How about Switzerland? How about Norway?”
On Saturday, the Times said, Trump complained of criticism over his “shithole countries” comment: “And you know, they took that as a very terrible comment, but I felt it was fine.” He also complained that migrants were coming to the US from Yemen, “where they’re blowing each other up all over the place,” and said immigrants from Latin America “make the Hells Angels look like extremely nice people.”
Palm Beach, where Trump spoke at the home of a billionaire, is 93.8% white. West Palm Beach, across a waterway, is nearly a third of people of color.
Donald Trump is a racist. These remarks are hateful and bigoted in nature. No matter where an immigrant comes from, they are choosing America as their new home, and that should be celebrated. He sees migrants of color as a danger and threat to his white supremacist ideology, not as people fleeing from violence, oppression, or poverty. No country is a “shithole country” save for Trump’s America, where human and civil rights were brought decades back to a dark time in our nation’s history. This country was built on immigration and welcoming everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or nationality.
