raw suarez is up next with "inside story." have a great weekend. ♪ ♪ for weeks one of the republican candidates for president was dismissed as unelectable, a side show act. a nonfactor in the race likely to be gone before the first votes were cast. now that guy is leading in primary, state and nationwide polls and all those electable candidates are far behind. many in single digits. but what is really interesting is donald trump's impact on the issues side. the huge republican field has no choice but to respond to issues trump is putting in play.

is the new york developer pulling the field in directions it would rather not go? trump's race, it's the "inside story." ♪ ♪ ♪ welcome to "inside story." i am ray suarez. for more than a century with very few exceptions people born in the united states were commonly recognized as american citizens. period. a lot of the discussion about birth right citizenship centers on the 14th amendment, ratified just after the civil war. it's suddenly an issue again because donald trump made getting rid of that legal status a centerpiece of his immigration policy proposal. and while political reporters were becoming comfortable about the notion of billionaire's larger than life impact on the race he wasn't credited with the ability to set the agenda, to

shape the debate. but as al jazerra's david shuster reports, that's just what he's doing. >> i am here to tell you why i am running for president. >> reporter: on tuesday amidst the downpour at the iowa state fair, florida senator marco rubio literally rain odd the g.o.p. presidential parade on immaterial grapes reform. he said deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants is impractical and that denying citizenship for their children born in the united states is a non starter. >> it doesn't sound to me like a plan that has any chance of passing. we need to have a serious and thoughtful a appreciation to a very difficult and complex i can issue. >> reporter: suggesting certain immigration plans have not been serious is a shot at g. off. p front run are donald trump. he has been framing key issues for much of the g.o.p. field and over the weekend when he rolled out a policy paper for immigration, he pledged in nbc's meet the press to end automatic citizenship of children born in the united states.

>> you want to get rid of birth right citizenship? >> you have to get rid of it. yes. you have to. >> reporter: soon after trauma the's declaration, louisiana governor bobby joineddal a lower tier g.o.p. presidential candidate followed suit saying we need to end birth right citizenship for illegal immigrants. m.s.n.b.s. asked scott walker if he agreed. >> i think that's something that we should -- yeah, absolutely going forward. >> reporter: we should end berth right citizenship? >> yes, it's about the laws in the country. >> reporter: but birth right citizenship in the country is the law. the 14th amendment to the constitution says, quote, all person says born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the united states and the state wherein they suicide. courts have ruled except for children of foreign diplomats station ed in the united states, anybody born on american soil is a u.s. citizen, revising that would require changing the

constitution, it would mean getting 2/3 approval in the out and senate followed by ratted indication from 38 states. as the washington post wrote on tuesday, quote, a pledge to undo something in the contusion is on the far extreme of near impossibility. not all republican candidate agree with trump's idea. on top of florida senator marco rubio, ohio governor john kay sick also believes birth right citizenship should be left alone. >> let these people who were born here be citizens and that's the end it. i don't want to dwell there anymore. >> reporter: but in this donald trump led remember condition primary something that nay seem impossible doesn't mean it's widely dismissed. trump's immigration plan includes building a wall on the southwest border and having mexico pay for it. and while mexican leaders say they will never agree, wisconsin governor walker just said the idea is also worth pursuing. it's more proof the g.o.p. agenda at least for now is largely being driven by donald

trump. david shuster, al jazerra. is birth right citizenship, mass deportation a border wall really what the republican field wanted to be arguing about now? is donald trump pulling the race to places the huge field would rather not going? in a way, it might have to live with everybody if trump eventually leaves the race. joining me to take a closer look at trump as race, political consult stand browse haines a founder partner of purple strategies and jason johnson, an associate professor of political science at try hum college, he's also an al jazerra contributor. bruce haines, six months before people thread their way through snosnowy iowa to a caucus venues this what the field was going to be debated absent donald trump snap. >> they were going to be debating something and you know, here we are. it's planet trump, we are all living on it now, right? we are all revolving around it

he's this gravitational force of his own being. and he's choke en to talk about immigration, so we are. i think immigration was always going to be a high profile issue in the republican primary. it was largely going to resolve around some proposals i think that were -- that are in donald trump's plan and most people think are reasonable. things like increasing the number of border patrol agents, we have almost half as many agents actively involved in the border than you have on the lapd. you have the e-verify system that many people think we should expand if we can do it for gun collection why not employed. you have the sanctuary cities, if we can require states to withhold their federal highway funding if they don't raise their blood alcohol levels it pot six a eight for enforcements, these things, there are a couple of things in particular, it's particularly the wall. and this idea that we would deport people who are already here. birth right sit accept ship is interesting think that's a matter that's actually been

debated in american politics for sometimes. in fact, hair eye reed at one time -- harry reed supported butting preinstructs on his birth right citizenship. all the major democracies in europe have restrictions of some form in birth right citizenship. you can make an argument that the birth right citizenship issue that moving toward restricting it in some way to the children of either permanent residents or citizens is a progressive policy in a sense. it's all the major democracies in europe now are -- have evolved in that direct. >> but would it be there without donald trump snap jason johnson, what's happening is not donald trump said something interesting, he's talking about it. reporters are trooping to the events of the 16 other candidates and saying, donald trump said this. what do you say? they have to bounce off of him now. >> right. right. this is sort of like, you know, if you play with lebron, you

know, every time he does something they are asking all the players in the league what do you think about what is happening with tom brady. if you take donald trump's name out of it. when you have a front runner you have to respond for whoever that person is. and that's essentially how things work. unless you ever an insurgent campaign like now people and hillary clinton about what bernie sanders might be doing. what you have a clear front runner they set the agenda. and the press follows and everybody else has to respond. in the grander scheme of things, it's horrible. it's absolutely horrible. this is the most impractical ridiculous nonexpensive heard anyone talk about in a year where republicans should be salivating at the chance of measuring the curtains in the white house next here and they are wasting time about aish that you will kill them next summer no one will forget these conversations. >> professor johnson is right about what front runners can do. but the difference here is that you have got the governor of ohio, a big important state. the governor of texas, one of the biggest states.

the former governor of florida, having to respond to policy ideas from a guy who is a reality tv show star. and that is someplace new and different for the republican party, isn't it? >> it is. and i think he put his finger on something critical. it's while the wall is particularly visceral and the deportation, it's almost not the policy, it's the rhetoric. it's the way that he takes about this in terms of things like crime. and rape and welfare. and poverty. and that sounds particularly seexenophobic to a lot of ears, republican, democrat and independent. and that's the thing as a republican, that i fear for my party that it's that kind of rhetoric that will drag us down, we could actually, again, i am not for a wall and i don't think we ought to deport everybody, but i think we could have a very reasonable debate about a lot of the issues in donald trump's immigration policy. >> you are a campaign strategist. is it on your list of option to

his ignore the guy and run our own race? or is it too late for that? >> there is no world right now that doesn't exist where you are ignoring donald trump. he is in control of the agenda in this race. to pretend otherwise is foolish. and so you are going to have to find a way to insinuate your way on to the stage with donald trump. and that's what i think we'll see as we head out of the summer and in to the fall. either through the super packs and the spending that you are going to city a television as a results of that, or just the strategies of the campaigns they feel seven it will be time to take off the gloves and get yourself in contrast with donald trump. saw jeb dish doing that this week too some success. gentlemen, stay with us. after mitt romney got barely a quarter the latrine teen owe vote and the a 10th of the black vote. g.o.p. elders say we have to do better with these groupings, is the g.o.p. debate making the assignment of minority out reach

more difficult for the republican party? trump's race, it's the "inside story."

you are watching "inside story." i am ray suarez. maybe you have heard politicians explain in recent years the comprehensive immigration reform is really complicated. the current leader in the republican presidential primary field says it's not hard. the 11 1/2 million undocumented, they have got to go. their u.s.-born citizen children they have to go it too. and while we are at it. they shouldn't even be citizens in the first place. back now with bruce haines and jason johnson. and joining the conversation laura vasquez of the national council of los angeles was, a you watched this debate closely, were you surprise it too being this sudden turn? >> well, i mean i think it was something we saw coming based on what mr. trump had been saying, unfortunately he's not proposing slingses he selling make believe as you have talked about. these are not real solutions he's proposal. he's trying to talk about some sort of fantasy where these are

very simple issues that you can address with a lot of toughness. with being tough in dealing with 11 million people that are firmly entrenched in our country. and in our community. >> but he proses what you call fantasy and rises to the top of the heap. that must be concerning for your organization, isn't it? >> well, certainly. we know that there is support across the country for a realistic and pragmatic solution. americans are pragmatic, they want to see issues be involved in a way that any know can actually be implement ed in a way that they can actually pass congress and get to a president's desk and be sign ed in to law. so i think that right now, they are looking for -- they are hearing all of these sound bites, but what they are really going to want to know more about are the practical solutions that are necessary. >> but this can't be the debate. if this carries and if there is a trump residue whether trump is an active candidate deep in to

2016 or not, this can't be the debate that nclr wanted to see from one of our major political parties. >> certainly not. the question is whether the candidates are going to continue to follow donald trump down this yellow brick road or whether they are going to come to a point where they say we really need to talk about practical solutions. we really need to talk about the reality of 11 million people who are here and who could earn a path to citizenship based on laws that have been debated, that passed in the senate, based on serious bipartisan compromise. and that is what i think voters are going to continues to ask and demands of candidates as the campaign continues. >> jason johnson, apart from the policy details, if you are a candidate in this race, do you want to position yourself, are you looking at positioning yourself perhaps further to one

side of the spectrum than you might have been planning to do otherwise? >> i think that the refreshing thing about donald trump and i hate to say this, this is disappointing to me as an american citizen, people want answers, we have had eight years of a president who is very nuanced who talks about how difficult it is to get things done no government and nobody wants to hear that anymore, they want to hear it's simple and it can get fixed in an hour which is great for for a reality tv star and that's what we are dealing with right now of the i don't think donald trump is pushing the recognize can party to his the right. half of those ca candidates have always agreed with him they just don't say it as candidly. people thought they would hide these beliefs are now being forced to admit that i have agreed with it all along and maybe that paints me as be extremist. >> so it's kind of use of the, to smoke people out. >> i tell you, ray, politics is about choices.

choices are about contrast. peel will find a way to start drawing a contrast with dawned trump. i think you could see an ad pretty easily soon that says, hey, did you know that donald trump's policy of departing everybody would cost $500 billion. that's half the 10-year cost of obama care. don't we dislike that in the republican party? maybe you should dislike that too. so, again, we are getting out to where the part therefore campaign where people are going to get engaged with each other and it's not going to be just about the simple sound bite who do i know what have i seen? rudy giuliani had an 11 points lead last time at this point in the race and held it for another 4 1/2 months but sooner or later people hone in on the choices and the campaigns get going and things get interesting. >> but isn't a guy like the general chairman of the party, pulling his hair out? does he really want birth right citizenship debates on tv right now? six months out from iowa?

or maybe he wants them now instead of in the thick of the race. i don't know. >> i think it would be more concerned if there is a birth right citizenship debate six months from now. on the other hand, he's looking and saying 24 million people watched our debate the other night. they got to see how fantastic marco rubio was. they got to see carli go and rise and become a part of this and how interesting john kasich was, ther there is a i didn't kw and a yang to the trump phenomenon. there is a downside particularly as we said in materials of his rhetoric and what parts of this immigration policy are, that aren't realistic, but there is an upside too. the lens is on the republican party and there is an opportunity for the party to take advantage of if they speak in the right way if with the american people. >> guests say where irrelevant, trump's race to the on the program the reality tv star is upending the race to the dismay and delight of many, does a debate that's noxious to latinos in 2016 necessarily work to the benefit of the democrats?

that's the assumption but we are already seen in this young campaign season how wrong assumptions can be, stay with us, it's "inside story."

♪ ♪ welcome back to "inside story." i am ray suarez. we have already seen how dawned trump can change the campaign conversation. scott walker, ted cruz, rants paul, chris christie. rick santorum, bobby joineddal, lindsay graham have all agreed with trump's position that being born in the u.s. should not automatically confer u.s. sit accept ship, jeb web marco cube oh, pa tack and i fe carli say u should leave it as it is. should this cause chest bum aret the republican headquarters. what does damage to one side isn't necessarily a benefit to

the other, is it? >> i think that on both side of the aisle people wants to see a real debate with real solutions. that's really what interest are interested in. we know when solutions are explained in simple ways, -- >> jeez, that's neat. >> people born in the united states, that this is a part of our contusion, the constitution has never been changed in a way to limit civil rights. any change that has ever been in those civil rights arena to our constitution has expand the the civil rights. certainly this is not something that people want to hear candidates talking about right now. they want to hear about real solutions, they want to hear about yes, there is 11 million people here in the country, what should we do about that? and then we know there has been support across both sides of the aisle for solutions that explain when there are going to be requirements that have been met, this is not something that is going to happen overnight.

that this is something that is going to require people to come forward, to register torque say that they'll meet all these requirements such as learning english, paying taxes. those are very sensible solution that his people when they hear them understand that that's pragmatic, that's doable and something that is also in keeping with our traditions. >> is it too simple to conclude that that is something that elect tri identifies latino voters? could it also electrify for a wants of a better term. nativist voters or hard liners create more enthusiasm and activity on that side of the ledger? >> absolutely. one of the goals of any campaign is to have a base and get that base to be excited to support you financially, to support you at rallies. and most of all to turn out and vote to you. if could be the beginnings of a base for donald trump. it may not be the base that some of us in the republican party

would be terribly excited about, but, again, the key here is about does the campaign go from here? all of a sudden does trump engage in issues that actually may be a trachea tiff to hispanic voters? it's just a does he start talkig about economy in a way that resonates with em them national security that resonates with them. so you know, it's august, it's not even november of 2015. but, yeah, this could build a foundation for him going forward. and you know, that's the thing is you wonder is that trump campaign something that at some point will run off the cliff? if he's standing there with 20% that he can always count on, he's not going anywhere. >> at the outset, professor, you posited that this is something that is not good news for the g.o.p. minority out reach. explain that. >> well, basically a lot of republicans strategically have had this conversation previous, i have been to red states and they don't understand identity politics. the core issue that i think the

gop often runs in to is when you talk about trump's rhetoric, when you talk about some of these comments, discussion this week using terms like anchor babies, the response i get from my republican colleagues is it doesn't matter we'll get susana martinez as our v.p. somebody else as our v.p. that t will take care of it. it doesn't work that way. people remember these kind of statements and no republican is going to win the white house in 2016, probably less than 30 fires% of the latino vote. you have to get that much to beat hillary clinton or everybody joe biden, these are the kind of comments that make latino voters turn way from your party, not trust your party and will not vote to your party that's the thing that any republican that cares about winning has to be concerned about right now. >> laura, turns them away from the gop. but does it necessarily get them to the polls right? there is a turn out problem among latino voters? >> it's important to candidates

to go out and talk to the community and explain their positions and their what they stand for to engage if substantive debates. when they talk to the latino community, the latino community wants it hear about the economy, education, health. but when they hear, like you said their first statement -- when they associate with a person with things like, you know, offensive terms, when they associate them with people that want to deport their family members and loved ones, that's something that they can't listen to their substantive position on his education and he con my about. >> that's all the time that we want i want to thank my guess, jason johnson, bruce haines and laura vasquez. i will be back in a minute with a final thought on birth, identity, and politics, stay with us, it's "inside story."

♪ ♪ since americans generally know and understand too little of their history, too many national arguments over immigration take on the tone of being the first time we have had this family fight. in reality, we have been arguing about it off and on for 200 years. so i want to introduce to you this american, wong kim arc, he was born in san francisco to chinese-born parents around eight sen 71 in 1894, wong took a trip to china. and when he tried to come back to the u.s., he was denied entry because his parents were chinese

and thus, said the boarder authorities, so was wong. the young man sued for the right to stay in the country, and for recognition as a u.s. citizens, he eventually won on both count but had to go to the supreme court to get immigration authorities to leave him alone. the high court rules that wong had acquired his citizenship by being born on american soil and the american citizenship which wong kim ar k acquired by birth within the united states has not been lost or taken way by anything happening since his birth. according to the majority opinion in the case. so when it's opponents argue -- its opponents argue the 14th amend think wasn't not written to apply to immigrant family, they would be absolutely right. but it's harder to get around wong kim ark, american citizen. thanks for joining us for "inside story," see you next time. i am ray suarez.

tried to enter macedonia from grease. the u.n. coouls for restraint as tensions escalate between north and south korea. red brick former home of