On Immigration & The Border:
Solving The Two-Way Issue Will Take More Than Just Slogans (And More Marathon Speeches Democrats!)
Feel free to check the past Biden Era archives and follow the editions to come in the Trump Era on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn, including those on the 2024 Autopsy, Bench-Building, DOGE News, Project 2025 Authoritarianism, Progressive Populism, and more (First Come, First Serve!).
Another news recap before the main issue (a busy one too):
First, a hearty congratulations and shoutout to my friend Ben Wikler for the Democratic statewide effort in Judge Susan Crawford’s State Supreme Court victory. The first major dent in the ugly Tesla truck election cycle
Still more work for Democrats to do on campaign messaging
Read how Viktor Orban plagued Hungary with poverty, stagnation, and corruption, and why it could happen here via Anne Applebaum
Putin’s Philosopher said Trump’s America and Putin’s Russia have a lot in common, and claims Putinism has won in the US. Watch the full interview here
Trump has dropped over 100 investigations and enforcement actions against bad corporate actors. Definitely anti-consumer
Trump is shutting down the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service that assists union parties in the collective bargaining process. Definitely anti-worker
Strategic tariffs on trade abusers and adversaries like China & Russia are necessary, but needless universal trade wars on allies like Canada, Mexico, and the European Union will only harm American taxpayers and businesses
The White House decided to gut programs that polices forced labor and child labor overseas, which will impact US workers
The Fight Oligarchy Tour is organizing local progressive activists all across the country
A Michigan State Senate seat is still vacant, leaving 250,000 constituents without a representative
Big Crypto spent millions to elect Randy Fine and preserve the GOP House Majority in FL-06; and will likely spend big for all Congressional Republicans in 2026
Why did Democrats fall short of the highest expectations in FL-06? Consultant contracts and lavish campaign expenses may be part of the problem
Trump’s DOJ dropped a lawsuit against Georgia’s voter suppression laws
Media self-censoring is at an all-time high with media outlets placating the state with rhetorical concessions like the “Gulf of America” (looking at you CNN management)
Another pair of polls show Democratic and Independent voters view leadership as not fighting hard enough for them
Democrats have a gerontocracy problem too
Trump’s golf tab is costing you $26 million already
A life lesson for state attorneys general: don’t go on luxury trips to South Africa with corporate lobbyists
Now to immigration:
It is fair to say whether people like it or not that Donald Trump won on the issue of immigration in both 2016 and 2024. It’s just a matter of fact. Exit polls showed people who went to the polls on the issue of immigration voted for Trump by an almost unimaginable ratio in those two cycles. Even when he lost in 2020 to Joe Biden, immigration was rated a top issue for his supporters.
It is the one issue that can explain why Democrats lost considerable ground over the years in the Rio Grande Valley and in South Florida (as well as the crucial battleground states in Arizona and Nevada; and New Mexico too).
Democrats cannot ignore the immigration issue. They have to confront it. How?
First, remember that immigration is a scapegoat issue and distraction from calling out the exploitation of America by the elite oligarchy, special interests, and key parts of the corporate private sector. Blame the oligarchy for the contemporary struggles of working class Americans, not the immigrants.
Next, watch Trump flub the issue now that he is President again. Remember that he did face backlash after he separated children from families, a policy courtesy of the current Border Czar Tom Homan. Despite promising a wall for all of the Mexican border, only 400 miles of that was built. Mexico never paid for it. “Promises Made, Promises Broken” for the 1st term, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2nd term is much different. There’s one message.
In truth, I think the Trump agenda now is going to be much more sinister than the first term ever was. Mass deportations and raids top the list, and so are the deputizing of private mercenaries to facilitate those deportations. The military airplanes used for deportations, or rather the photo-ops, are dramatically increasing your taxpayer expenses compared to civilian plane use. The border is used as a lousy excuse for tariffs on Canada—which is probably more related to the 51st State temper tantrum than anything else. And who knows what more is to come. Despite all of that, deportation of immigrants are still relatively slow and on par with what the Biden Administration was doing all along. Those are issues Democrats also need to take advantage of.
Furthermore, law-abiding undocumented immigrants and even American citizens are being displaced and harassed by Trump’s new border & immigration policies. Trump has recently revoked protected status for thousands, if not millions, of former legal immigrants, mainly from Latin America and the Caribbean, which paves the way for their potential deportation. This will uproot entire communities and shorten the labor supply, thus raising inflation if we continue to deport all undocumented immigrants (don’t believe me? Just ask Governor Ron DeSantis on his proposed child labor law gutting).
No one will deny it. Even Bernie Sanders as he discussed the issue on ABC’s This Week with Jonathan Karl. We need comprehensive immigration reform.
No one can also deny the politics around it. It is potent. Granted I don’t endorse all of his takes on every issue at all, but the fact that John Fetterman recognized the importance of the border issue right when he got to the US Senate in 2023 has to tell you how Democrats-and Republicans too-have struggled to grasp and tackle the issue (Fetterman’s wife, for a little trivia, is a formerly undocumented immigrant).
Back from my digression though. Seriously, the border issue is multi-pronged and goes both ways, a point Democrats need to make. The United States wants to address the overflow of immigration in what is and has been a very broken system for a long time, as well as crack down on the fentanyl drug trade and sex trafficking.
Mexico wants the issue addressed too. They deal with a gun trade from the US to its own country—something few Americans know unless they travel into the country, which a priest I know at Providence College does regularly.
Canada is very similar. Human smuggling and trafficking has taken place for those traveling through the US seeking refuge in our northern neighbor (something Trump could actually worsen).
Thus, the case for comprehensive immigration reform.
Those with known criminal records (meaning gang activity and other forms of mainly violent crime) are targeted for deportation. That is something that can be agreed upon very easily.
Law-abiding undocumented immigrants can and must be protected, which Democrats will do. Plus, we need to offer a pathway to citizenship for them that protects local economies and prevents labor shortages.
Not to mention more immigration courts.
We reform guest worker and visa programs so corporations are not exploiting undocumented immigrant workers and laying off American workers in the process. We already know meatpacking plants exploit undocumented migrant children for cheap labor, a disservice to both immigrants and Americans alike.
We also do better border protection with drones over walls and drug detection technology at ports of entry over mass deportations and concentration camps, and giving the appropriate funding to Border Patrol instead of wasting it on a Great Wall of China ripoff that cartels can dig under.
And that would be a neat Democratic Party agenda vision and campaign message to the stale bread Trump has to offer on this issue.
Another great post as usual, Mike!