This is the second in what will be a regular feature (see our first post here). It’s based upon what is known as the original position fallacy:
A situation in which a character promotes an action, revolution or social system that harms or will harm other people, under the assumption that it will not harm them. They will invariably discover that they were wrong, with the double whammy of knowing they supported the measure that caused their suffering when they thought it would happen to ‘somebody else’
This, of course, was predictable for the average MAGA voter, they were warned many times that Trump & Company had no true regard for their own supporters (except their mega wealthy cabal). Cheering on all of Trump’s plans the MAGA crowd were looking forward to the firing huge swathes of our federal workforce according to the Project 2025 playbook. And without thought of consequences these MAGAs failed to take notice that there are many MAGA adherents in that federal workforce. Thinking things through is not one of the characteristics of the entire MAGA movement, from top to bottom.
So, now, just seven weeks into the Re-Trumping of America, thousands of federal workers have been summarily laid off and RIFed. Those MAGAs who have been directly or indirectly harmed by this have learned the lesson of the original position fallacy. And more lessons will be forthcoming to MAGAs who disproportionately rely on programs being axed by the GOP/MAGA, for instance, Medicaid, administration interference with Social Security and Medicare, and the decimation of the Veterans Administration.
So, here’s is today’s example of buyer’s regret, courtesy of Twitter/X poster Tim Hannon’s retweet of a February 6th cris de coeur from MAGA town:
A staunch supporter of Trump during the 2024 campaign, Florida Congresswoman Maria Salazar, representing Miami, found out that her support for Trump’s immigration disposal project would actually target her own constituents despite a Biden administration policy that protected them. Well, Maria, we told you so.
BACKGROUND. “The Biden Administration’s recent use of the statutory parole authority has attracted scrutiny. Since 2021, the Biden Administration has invoked the immigration parole authority to enable aliens from certain countries — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela — to enter the United States so long as they satisfy other eligibility criteria. For instance, regulations provide that, to qualify for the parole processes for Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (“CHNV”), the applicant must apply in his or her home country, pass a background check, demonstrate he or she has a financial supporter in the United States, and fly into the United States to an interior port of entry. He or she may remain in the United States for up to two years and obtain work authorization.” See Congressional Research Service Legal Sidebar for in-depth coverage.
The parole processes that make up the CHNV program have been available to Venezuelans since October 2022 and to Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans since January 2023. As of the end of October 2024, 110,240 Cubans, 211,010 Haitians, 93,070 Nicaraguans, and 117,310 Venezuelans. See Refugees International Fact Sheet. As of December 2024, about 531,690 people had entered the country under that program, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. See Voice of America News.
On January 20, Donald Trump ended the humanitarian CHNV parole program. Under the executive order “Securing Our Borders,” which outlines various immigration-related actions, including the CHNV program which allowed up to 30,000 individuals per month.
CONGRESSWOMAN SALAZAR’S INTEREST According to the U.S. Census, 70% of Salazar’s district are Hispanic/Latino, especially Cuban. Salazar has been a vocal suppporter of Trump’s deportation goals, patticularly about thos immigrants that arrived under President Biden’s watch. While she is less draconian in her immigration policies yhan the more rabid Trump congresspeople, she had this to say during an interview on PBS News Hour during the GOP convention:
“You need to create a division between two groups of undocumented: the ones who came in during the last three and a half years – eight million people and the thirteen of fourteen [million] who have been here – picking the jalapenos in southern California, or the oranges in Florida – those people, I believe, because they have been here, they don’t have a criminal record, they have American children, they’ve been contributing to the economy, they’ve been paying taxes, those people should be looked at it with a dignity – and we can expand on that later – the people who came in in the last three and a half years, we don’t know what intentions they have. . .”
During the Biden administration, under the CHNV program, more than 500,000 persons entered the U.S. As discussed above they were thoroughly vetted. A significant number arrived in her district from Cuba, for instance.
But (now) there are exceptions. . . Note that Ms. Salazar was staunchly disapproving of the Biden administration’s use of the CHNV program but not those admitted during the Trump administration. Saying of the Biden era: ” the people who came in in the last three and a half years, we don’t know what intentions they have,” disregarding the strong vetting process that the CHNV requires, and that a large number of her own CHNV constituents gained admission to her district.
However, now, faced with Trump’s Executive Orders, assaulting the CHNV program, she has seen the light. And here’s her politically calculated backtracking:
I’m urging Homeland Security to PROTECT Cubans awaiting legal status adjustment through the Cuban Adjustment Act. We must ALSO protect the Venezuelans and Nicaraguans without a criminal record going through the asylum process.
Don’t penalize them for Biden’s screw-ups!
Tweet/X, January 24, 2015 – Representative Maria Salazar, Representing Miami Florida since 2021
And here’s her pleading to the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Bengamine Huffman. What the Acting Secretary’s response will be is presently guesswork, however, Trump’s Executive Order was clear: sayonara CHNV . . .
