U.S. Senator from Kentucky Mitch McConnell was featured on The Young Turks by host and founder Cenk Uygur on Thursday, after the senator was asked about President Donald Trump's plans to build a wall along the entire U.S. border with Mexico. At the breakfast event sponsored by Politico, McConnell can be heard stating that in some areas, a wall is likely "not the best way to secure the border." When asked if the Senate Republican leader believed that the Mexican government would pay for a border wall, McConnell replied, "Uh... no," before laughing, along with others gathered.
Cenk Uygur described the move as an "open-handed slap" to Donald Trump. The host asked why the senator would be doing such a thing. He named considerations like take cuts for donors, and whether or not construction "buddies" might get work as a result of border wall construction, before turning to another conclusion: cheap labor. The TYT host cited the senator as an establishment Republican, beholden to the desires of corporate donors, above all else. Mr. Uygur pondered what it might be that corporations most want that a Mexican border wall could either aide, or hinder.
Republican donors likely don't want border wall, says Cenk Uygur
The host speculated that establishment, corporate Republican donors told McConnell to "humor Trump," but that they don't want a border wall.
Uygur spoke of "tax cuts," "deregulation," and killing Obamacare as goals that it is conceivable that donors might wish for, but that a border wall would be seen as a low priority, as well as counterproductive.
"They want the cheap labor for their businesses," Cenk Uygur explained. Business Insider reported that McConnell stated his support for Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, as well as the notion of "border security." He stated that he believes that Trump chose an "outstanding person" to work as secretary of homeland security.
McConnell speculated that President Trump will listen to advice provided by Kelly with regard to the Mexico border wall, which, given the senator's praise of him, might lead one to believe that plans for a wall may be scrapped entirely along some stretches.
Net outflow of Mexican immigrants since 2009
Pew Research has noted that, on balance, from 2009 through 2014, 140,000 Mexicans left the United States, and returned to Mexico, with many citing a desire to reunite with their families.
The group reports that, from 1995 to 2000, 2.2 million Mexicans immigrated to the United States. The Great Recession is thought to be a driving factor behind the changes in immigration patterns, upending the perceptions of immigrants about the relative stability of each nation, as well as labor markets.
