Unfit to Print: TRUMP LAYS OFF IRAN AS GOP PUSHES AMNESTY AT HOME
The president backed off his Iran threat hours before his deadline
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Israel reportedly sold Trump on the Iran war based on faulty intelligence and Republicans are pushing amnesty again.
From Bad Intel To Bombs
Five hours before President Donald Trump’s deadline for a deal with Iran, the New York Times published a damning investigation on how the U.S. ended up in this war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited Washington numerous times leading up to the dropping of bombs, made his grand pitch to the president on Feb. 11.
During that meeting, Netanyahu and Israeli intelligence officials told Trump that current conditions in Iran would make for a quick and decisive victory:
“Iran’s ballistic missile program could be destroyed in a few weeks,” Israeli officials reportedly claimed. “The regime would be so weakened that it could not choke off the Strait of Hormuz, and the likelihood that Iran would land blows against U.S. interests in neighboring countries was assessed as minimal.”
Mossad also told U.S. officials that a bombing campaign would create the conditions for Iranian protesters to once again take to the streets and topple the regime.
The war is now in its sixth week and those assessments have aged incredibly poorly. The ballistic missile program is damaged but still operational. Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and its proxies have continued to hit U.S. interests in neighboring countries. And there’s no clear second wave of mass protests against the regime.
Trump’s advisors warned him at the time that Israeli intelligence had a pattern of overselling to garner U.S. support for its military projects. CIA Director John Ratcliffe called the Israeli assessment “farcical.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it was “bullshit.” General Dan Caine expressed skepticism. Vice President JD Vance listed off at least a half dozen reasons why the war was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, Trump persisted.
On Tuesday morning, Trump took his threats to Iran to a new level. Rather than merely threatening to take out their critical infrastructure, the president warned that “a whole civilization will die” if Iran didn’t make a deal with the U.S. by 8 PM.
But as the deadline approached, rumors spread that a deal was on the way. Trump announced on Truth Social that both sides had agreed to a “CEASEFIRE” contingent on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also indicated that they are “very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East.”
Trump added that Iran sent him a 10-point plan for ending the war that the president said was a “workable basis on which to negotiate.”
However, the 10-point plan has been circulating for at least a week — as opposed to being offered in response to Trump’s threats.
The plan reportedly includes guarantees that the U.S. and Israel will not attack Iran again, reparations for the damage done to Iran during the war, sanctions relief, and continued Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz.
The full plan, which has been reported on here, would leave the U.S. in a much worse strategic position than it was before the conflict. But the U.S. has also sent Iran a 15-point peace plan, which we’re broadly told addresses Iran’s ballistic missiles and maritime travel. Naturally, the idea now is that the U.S. and Iran would meet somewhere in the middle.
GOP Revives Amnesty Bill
Back home, Republicans are fighting over a revived immigration bill that would offer amnesty to illegal aliens.
The “DIGNIDAD Act” — translated into English as the “Dignity Act” — was originally sponsored and introduced by New York Republican Rep. Maria Salazar last year.
New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, one of the bill’s cosponsors, promoted it again during a Fox News interview Sunday, raising alarm bells that the GOP was again going to try to advance the legislation.
The bill contains provisions on border security, criminal enforcement, and mandatory E-Verify. But it also includes the following provisions:
Creating “humanitarian campuses” in border patrol hotspots to help process “asylum seekers.” The campuses would help connect illegal aliens with outside legal counsel through NGOs and would offer social workers and mental health professionals
Loan forgiveness for lawyers who serve at least four years providing services at one of the “humanitarian campuses”
Offers DREAM Act-style protections for some illegal aliens who entered the U.S. as minors and have lived here continuously since January 2021
Those “Dreamers” can apply for lawful permanent residence if they obtain a postsecondary degree, serve in the military, or demonstrate employment for four years with a work permit
Creates a “Dignity Program” that offers illegals legal status if they pass a criminal background check, pay back taxes, pay a $7,000 fine, enroll in health coverage, and do not use welfare. The program applies to illegals who entered the country before the Biden administration — which could be up to roughly 10.5 million people.
Raises the per-country caps on employment and family visas
The full provisions of the bill can be read here.
Rep. Salazar responded sharply to critics who claimed the bill offers “amnesty” through its creation of pathways to legal status for millions of illegal aliens.
“READ. THE. BILL. BEFORE. YOU. OPEN. YOUR. MOUTH,” she wrote on X. “This is enforcement first: zero tolerance for criminals, permanent border security, and hard, earned requirements to step forward and face the law, so American workers are protected, not undercut.”
Republican Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, however, argued, “Maria, your ‘DIGNIDAD Act’ would give legal status to over 10 million illegal aliens.It’s rank amnesty and everybody knows it.I want dignity for Americans - the people whose interests we represent - not illegal aliens. That means doing what we said we’d do: mass deportations.”
18 Republicans, in addition to Salazar and Lawler, have offered their support to the bill:
David Valadao (CA-22)
Dan Newhouse (WA-04)
Mike Kelly (PA-16)
Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01)
Gabe Evans (CO-08)
Marlin Stutzman (IN-03)
Don Bacon (NE-02)
Young Kim (CA-40)
Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26)
James R. Baird (IN-04)
Lloyd Smucker (PA-11)
Kimberlyn King-Hinds (MP-At Large)
James C. Del. Moylan (GU-At Large)
Monica De La Cruz (TX-15)
Nick LaLota (NY-1)
Neal P. Dunn (FL-2)
Jennifer A. Kiggans (VA-2)
Zachary Nunn (IA-3)
The Daily Caller asked the White House whether President Donald Trump would sign the bill if it ended up on his desk last year. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she did not believe the president had read the legislation in its entirety, but assured that he would not support amnesty.
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