Don't know the context of his quote, but I think it relates to the courts slapping down the EO on immigration. The quote seems an extension of the idea that the admin will ultimately win in court.
I ask if you are the same person holding all the same thoughts and same manner of doing things now as you were in high school? Or even in college? I know I'm not. Sometimes it's because times change, sometimes because philosophies change, and sometimes because people change. Shit I'm not even the same guy I was 10 years ago.
I'm not enamored by him. I was simply glad to see him slap down that fool Acosta. I'm glad to see that the administration seems to have found its first coherent, non-tweeting spokesman to take up the issue of immigration, both legal and illegal, because it's the one thing they have the right idea about. It's not about diversity or poor, huddled masses or wretched refuse. It's about limiting it and getting it under control and at the very least calling into question how it has affected wages in this country over the long haul. It's about how it affects social welfare programs, how it creates lasting subcultures of poverty and-- yes-- non-English speakers. These are real issues and they can't be glossed over either by a bunch of kumbayah dipshits on the left or racist bigots on the right. At some point, the Democrats decided to make their bed with the element that concluded unfettered immigration was an overall benefit and any attempts to limit it should be painted in the worst light imaginable. There are strange bedfellows in that camp-- the usual immigration rights advocates, big business interests who started influencing the party under WJC, and party partisans who really don't care but see the issue as a way to change the demographics and create a permanent voting majority. The GOP has one foot in with big business and the other in with the Trumpians. Frankly, it had both feet in with the big business element prior to Trump. That means there is a lot to overcome to do any kind of restrictive immigration reform.
To say my views on immigrants boil down to "discontent" with them is a dishonest representation. I've done more for immigrants than you or this entire board combined is likely to do in its lifetime. I've witnessed firsthand the increasing disregard for immigration law over multiple administrations. I've seen how they've twisted waiver policies to make them easier to get, how they've pushed for binding precedent decisions to fulfill the wishes of whatever shithead lobbyists they want to please, how they've placed AILA lawyers in positions of power, how existing law was interpreted intentionally for something it was never meant to address, how sometimes law was just made up out of whole cloth, and I could go on and on. Immigration is a long-term national security issue and should be treated like one. Not necessarily because of A-Q or ISIS (though that is obviously some concern), but because of the way it can pull us apart from inside. Politicians don't give a fuck about any of that because they're too lazy or too dismissive of their constituents (with some justification) to even attempt to delve into it. As with every issue, it's much easier to stick to talking points and point to some dumb study that supports your POV.