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It may not be smart or good business but it's great politics. It's easy to blame foreigners for any perceived wrong, especially if they're breaking the rules. Y

It may not be smart or good business but it's great politics. It's easy to blame foreigners for any perceived wrong, especially if they're breaking the rules. Your constituents believe that you're setting things right. It will undoubtedly have negative financial effect on those same constituents, but there's always someone else to arrest and take the blame. It's fantastic politics.

seanmcdirmid 1y ago
Even if they aren’t breaking the rules, you just make your visa policies complicated enough that you can say they might be breaking rules and your constituents will just eat it all up. Meanwhile South Korea decides getting closer to China might be the better course of action.
- ponector 1y ago
  >> Meanwhile South Korea decides getting closer to China might be the better course of action. Good for them. If USA is not a reliable ally anymore, not a surprise there are active talks on free trade agreement between China, Japan and Korea.
csomar 1y ago
I don’t think that’s the issue here? The workers were breaking the laws, unacceptable, but there is little evidence that they are a danger to society or the agents handling them. There could have been much better ways to handle this or maybe, hmm, not televise for the whole world to see. It was done to humiliate. Period.
- ethbr1 1y ago
  Exactly. The reason this was bad politics is that it created more pain than was necessary for the desired gain. If Trump wanted leverage in negotiations and to appear strong on immigration... fine. But there are so many ways of accomplishing that that didn't also alienate and piss off an ally to the extent this perp photo shoot did. Hell, the government could have just politely detained them, put out a big splashy press release, then worked with the South Korean embassy to repatriate them. Same benefit, fewer hard feelings. In contrast, as a result now there's going to be much higher government and South Korean domestic pushback on exactly the kind of US investment Trump wants. It's one thing when someone does something distasteful but gets benefit out of going that far. It's another when they do it because they're inept. The only people this excess played well for was Trump's base, and as others pointed out, there are plenty of less trade sensitive immigrant groups that could have been substituted, if that was the goal.
- aroberge 1y ago
  > The workers were breaking the laws, ... How sure are we of that? Did we really get this information from trustworthy sources?
  - SR2Z 1y ago
    Not all of them were, and at least one of the arrested workers was here fully legally.
- jfengel 1y ago
  Just to clarify, I agreed with the OP that it wasn't a good idea. It's bad economics, bad precedent, bad foreign policy, and a bunch of other bad things. I was speaking solely about politics, i.e. winning elections. And if you can't win elections, none of your other policies matter.
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y ago
    > bad foreign policy From my reading, this is what they seem to have meant by "bad politics". It's just not clear that OP meant "politics" strictly as "winning elections". I agree that it's good domestic politics. It may have even been seen as a tradeoff by the administration.
  - djridnnxnd 1y ago
    This is why politics is where it is — winning one election is less important than shifting the Overton window. The right wing know this and it’s their focus. When ‘moderates’ lean right to ‘win elections’ they shoot their future political aims in the foot
Yeul 1y ago
Sure but you arrest the right foreigners. Did America run out of Hondurians? Going after Koreans is just dumb on so many levels it's like America wants China to win.
- DougN7 1y ago
  Many people wonder/suspect Trump is on the Chinese payroll.
  - ponector 1y ago
    Smart guy, he is on both chinese and russian payroll!
    - 1659447091 1y ago
      Not sure if you are saying this as snark, but yes, trump is on the side of "who is paying me today". Not sure how this is not blatantly clear by now. And Russia, China, et al., who have a real interest in weakening the US understand they have been given a gift by overly sensitive and angry American-hating magas in trump.
    - computably 1y ago
      Don't forget Qatar. $400m jet.
      - ponector 1y ago
        But it looks like a payback for one-time favor.

seanmcdirmid 1y ago

Even if they aren’t breaking the rules, you just make your visa policies complicated enough that you can say they might be breaking rules and your constituents will just eat it all up. Meanwhile South Korea decides getting closer to China might be the better course of action.

ponector 1y ago
>> Meanwhile South Korea decides getting closer to China might be the better course of action. Good for them. If USA is not a reliable ally anymore, not a surprise there are active talks on free trade agreement between China, Japan and Korea.

csomar 1y ago

I don’t think that’s the issue here? The workers were breaking the laws, unacceptable, but there is little evidence that they are a danger to society or the agents handling them. There could have been much better ways to handle this or maybe, hmm, not televise for the whole world to see. It was done to humiliate. Period.

ethbr1 1y ago
Exactly. The reason this was bad politics is that it created more pain than was necessary for the desired gain. If Trump wanted leverage in negotiations and to appear strong on immigration... fine. But there are so many ways of accomplishing that that didn't also alienate and piss off an ally to the extent this perp photo shoot did. Hell, the government could have just politely detained them, put out a big splashy press release, then worked with the South Korean embassy to repatriate them. Same benefit, fewer hard feelings. In contrast, as a result now there's going to be much higher government and South Korean domestic pushback on exactly the kind of US investment Trump wants. It's one thing when someone does something distasteful but gets benefit out of going that far. It's another when they do it because they're inept. The only people this excess played well for was Trump's base, and as others pointed out, there are plenty of less trade sensitive immigrant groups that could have been substituted, if that was the goal.
aroberge 1y ago
> The workers were breaking the laws, ... How sure are we of that? Did we really get this information from trustworthy sources?
- SR2Z 1y ago
  Not all of them were, and at least one of the arrested workers was here fully legally.
jfengel 1y ago
Just to clarify, I agreed with the OP that it wasn't a good idea. It's bad economics, bad precedent, bad foreign policy, and a bunch of other bad things. I was speaking solely about politics, i.e. winning elections. And if you can't win elections, none of your other policies matter.
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 1y ago
  > bad foreign policy From my reading, this is what they seem to have meant by "bad politics". It's just not clear that OP meant "politics" strictly as "winning elections". I agree that it's good domestic politics. It may have even been seen as a tradeoff by the administration.
- djridnnxnd 1y ago
  This is why politics is where it is — winning one election is less important than shifting the Overton window. The right wing know this and it’s their focus. When ‘moderates’ lean right to ‘win elections’ they shoot their future political aims in the foot

Yeul 1y ago

Sure but you arrest the right foreigners. Did America run out of Hondurians? Going after Koreans is just dumb on so many levels it's like America wants China to win.

DougN7 1y ago
Many people wonder/suspect Trump is on the Chinese payroll.
- ponector 1y ago
  Smart guy, he is on both chinese and russian payroll!
  - 1659447091 1y ago
    Not sure if you are saying this as snark, but yes, trump is on the side of "who is paying me today". Not sure how this is not blatantly clear by now. And Russia, China, et al., who have a real interest in weakening the US understand they have been given a gift by overly sensitive and angry American-hating magas in trump.
  - computably 1y ago
    Don't forget Qatar. $400m jet.
    - ponector 1y ago
      But it looks like a payback for one-time favor.