Will President Trump’s Immigration Goals Be Realized in 2019?

House Democrats voted late last week on a legislative package that would end the partial government shutdown, but rejected President Donald Trump’s call for more funding for a border wall, CNN reported Friday.

The impasse will likely mean a lengthened shutdown and no further progress on wall funding, points out best-selling author Stephen E. Strang, who released his newest book, Trump Aftershock, on Election Day.

“Vice President Mike Pence has said that without funding for the border wall, there will be ‘no deal,'” Strang said. “Democrats have repeatedly broken off negotiations and continued to play by their rules only. VP Pence wisely asserted that without a wall, there is no border security. Trump administration leaders know that keeping the promise on common-sense immigration policies and a border wall to keep the country secure is paramount—especially to the evangelical voters who put Trump in office.”

Strang continued that voters resonated with Trump’s “America first” commitment from the campaign trail, and little has changed. In fact, he added, many Americans still want safe borders, despite what mainstream media reports or what celebrities may post on social media.

“U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported a 23.7 percent reduction in immigrants entering the country illegally during the 2017 fiscal year, and this was without the wall being completed,” Strang writes in Trump Aftershock in a chapter focusing on Trump’s “fast-start” agenda. “It was becoming clear to would-be immigrants and the international community at large that this American president was more serious about curtailing illegal immigration than any of his predecessors. As promised throughout the campaign, Trump was actually putting Americans first, and fear of what would happen under the new Trump administration made many prospective border crossers decide it would be much safer to stay home.”

Trump Aftershock also details the president’s many accomplishments in a section of the book called “500 Days of American Greatness.” Included is the fact that America’s communities are safe and more secure:

• Despite limited resources and obstruction from Congress, President Trump has worked to take control of our border and enforce our immigration laws.
• President Trump has called on Congress to provide the resources needed to secure our borders and close loopholes that prevent immigration laws from being fully enforced.
• President Trump authorized the deployment of the National Guard to help secure our borders.
• President Trump’s Administration has carried out immigration enforcement efforts based on the rule of law. For example, from the start of President Trump’s administration to the end of FY 2017, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made 110,568 arrests of illegal aliens. Arrests made in this timeframe represented a 42 percent increase from the same timeframe in FY 2016. Of the 110,568 arrests made, 92 percent had a criminal conviction, pending criminal charge, were an ICE fugitive, or had a reinstated final order of removal.

Trump Aftershock explores the “president’s seismic impact on culture and faith in America” and uncovers unreported facts while objectively helping readers understand what the nation’s most unlikely and unconventional president has accomplished.

Stephen E. Strang is the best-selling author of God and Donald Trump. The CEO and founder of Charisma Media, Strang was voted by TIME magazine as one of the most influential Evangelicals in America. He has traveled to more than 50 countries, has interviewed four U.S. presidents, and has been featured on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBN, Dr. James Dobson’s “Family Talk” and The Daily Caller.

Trump Aftershock is published by FrontLine, an imprint of Charisma House, which has published books that challenge, encourage, teach and equip Christians, including 14 New York Times best-sellers.