Less than 3 percent of Hillsdale students would vote for Donald Trump tomorrow, according to the College Republicans’ post-debate straw poll last week. But what support Trump does have at Hillsdale, among students and faculty alike, seems sparked by one position, immigration reform.
Professor of Politics Thomas West, Assistant Professor of Politics John Grant, and senior Alex Buchmann each point to Trump’s articulation of immigration reform as setting him apart from the rest of the Republican presidential field. On his website and elsewhere, Trump has advocated for three principles as core to his immigration plan. They read, “1. A nation without borders is not a nation. 2. A nation without laws is not a nation. 3. A nation that does not serve its own citizens is not a nation.”
West, who said he has not researched any candidates in depth and speaks as an undecided, said Trump is the strongest of what West considers a weak collection of candidates. He believes Trump, in articulating these principles around immigration policy, implies these principles should be core to all policy.
“Those three things, if I heard any of the other candidates speaking so emphatically about those three things I would be interested in them,” West said.
West points to the American founding as support of Trump’s principles.
“You can’t have a nation if it doesn’t have border. If you go back to the founding the first purpose of government is to secure the natural rights of every individual who is an American citizen. What’s required for that is stated in the preamble of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780—that means to preserve and defend the body politic,” West said. “You cannot allow your country to be invaded. An unarmed invasion is when you move in a large quantity of people into the country without arms who have been explicitly forbidden by law.”
Grant also believes Trump to be unique in his focus on enforcing existing law and said he thinks well of him in comparison to the rest of the candidates.
“I’m not an enthusiast in the sense that this is my beau ideal in a presidential candidate by any stretch of the imagination,” Grant said. “That being said, I support him right now—and of course a lot of things can change and anything can happen—compared to the others because he is talking about critical issues that either are not being talked about by anybody else or would not be discussed at all if it were not for him. And so I think especially in relation to basic matters, like immigration—I can’t find another candidate who has actually said we should enforce existing laws, and that’s kind of amazing.”
Grant acknowledges Trump is not popular on campus and people have other issues they are concerned about, but, he said, “Looking at matters in relation to ‘how is this good for America’ is kind of novel in comparison to other candidates.”
Buchmann does not have as negative a view of the wider Republican field as Grant and West, but he still thinks Trump stands out.
“I like Donald Trump, I honestly do,” he said. “I strongly support large portions of his immigration plan. I think his rhetoric, though crass, is refreshing in the political field. I think the biggest issue of our day is immigration, and I think Trump’s immigration plan is fantastic and stellar.”
Trump’s oft-mentioned braggadocio has made him distasteful to many, but West said he appreciated Trump’s spiritedness.
“One of the reasons that I am willing to give Trump a chance is because of his spirit. He shows by far the greatest degree of spiritedness of any of the candidates, in a good way. He seems to be spirited on behalf of sensible things. The things he says to someone who insults or attacks him, that’s one thing. To me, that all falls under the category of ‘you come after me and I’ll defend myself’ so I’m not concerned about that.”
Trump’s behavior does not bother Buchmann.
“The executive branch is larger than one individual,” he said. “You have a cabinet around you, and Trump has acknowledged that he’s going to put great people around him in his cabinet.”