The Democratic Party and their allies in the mainstream media appear to have taken the high ground in the battle over immigration.  Their marked success in this area has given them a powerful tool that they hope to exploit in the 2026 midterm elections.  In the meantime, the Republicans are relying on anticipated explosive economic growth to keep them in control of Congress.

Why do the Democrats have an advantage on the  immigration issue?  After all, they are the ones who created the present mess. 

The Democrats like to emphasize the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, and the latest influx is only the most recent in a long line of people fleeing poverty and seeking a good life in the United States.  They insist that great majority of the new arrivals are honest, hardworking people who will contribute to our society.  Democrats know that most of them entered our country illegally, but they express mixed feelings about any effort to return them to their home country.  Most importantly, they adamantly oppose the Trump administration’s tactics in dealing with immigrants, and they have persuaded many of their fellow countrymen that ICE and other enforcement organizations are brutal and Gestapo-like in their operations.

What are the facts?

During Biden’s Presidency, our nation’s southern border was opened, and millions of undocumented immigrants entered the United States.  The actual number is unknown but is estimated to exceed 12 million.  This influx vastly exceeded our ability to quickly integrate these newcomers into our communities.  Although most arrivals were simply seeking work opportunities, there were malefactors in the mix, including murderers, rapists, and drug dealers.  During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Trump made the most of the immigration problem – especially the criminal component.  

When he assumed office in 2025, Trump immediately closed the southern border and appointed strict law-and-order types to run the Department of Homeland Security and the subordinate immigration enforcement organizations.  Their immediate targets were the criminal aliens who had been allowed to enter the country.  These persons had been charged or convicted of a crime, but in the process of pursuing and arresting criminals, the federal agents frequently encountered immigrants who were charged with no other offense than entering our national illegally. They too were often arrested and incarcerated or shipped out of the country.  The images were bad.  The treatment of these people often appeared brutal and inhumane, especially as reported by the anti-Trump media.  Although most Americans approved closing the border and ejecting criminals, opinions on how to treat non-criminal undocumented immigrants varied widely.

Trump did himself no favor by failing to elucidate a coherent program on how to handle the immigration issue once the border was closed.  Removing criminal aliens from our midst was top priority, and rescuing the thousands of undocumented, unprotected children who were swept across our border was next.  Almost all Americans approved these efforts, although tactics were frequently challenged.   After that?  Trump talked as though he would expel all immigrants who had entered our nation without proper documentation.  Perhaps ten to fifteen million aliens had entered the United States during the four years of the Biden administration.  Many of them had been virtually welcomed to our country by the Mayorkas DHS, but most were unvetted and unknown.  In addition to these immigrants, there were perhaps millions more undocumented immigrants who had entered the United States more than four years prior to the border shutdown.  Would Trump try to expel them all?  It could never happen.   But even the threat of it produced much unease among our immigrant communities.

Trump needs a plan.  It will be difficult to negotiate a path between the soft-hearted and the hardliners, but it must be attempted.  If achieved, I’m sure the result will satisfy neither side, but perhaps it will help Republicans hold the Senate and House next November.  Otherwise, the MAGA program will be in danger.