Democrats Chase Trump’s Laser Pointer On Immigration

Authored by J.T. Young via RealClearPolitics,

In his first term, Trump chased Democrats’ laser pointer; now, they’re chasing his. No issue illustrates this like immigration; it’s become the Democrats’ red dot. Whenever, wherever, and however Trump moves it, Democrats can’t help pouncing. 

In his first term, Trump reacted to everything Democrats and the establishment media did. He couldn’t help himself, as though always compensating for having lost the 2016 popular vote. Forever taking their bait, his tweets poured forth. His frequently abrupt policy and political changes cost him on Obamacare – and popular support, too: Throughout his first term, Trump never had a favorable job approval rating in the RealClearPolitics Average of national polls.  

In his second term, circumstances have markedly reversed. Democrats have been reacting to Trump since before he took office – if not since before he won it. 

Even before his inauguration, Democratic leaders ran to microphones to announce their defiance. As they did, they picked politically questionable issues. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proclaimed he was opening his state to more transgender surgeries; California Gov. Newsom proclaimed support for electric vehicle credits.  

When Trump talked about a third term, even with the Constitution clearly blocking it, Democrats and the establishment media were apoplectic. Once in office, they were opposed to DOGE with equal vehemence.

In short, if Trump proposed it, Democrats opposed it. They couldn’t help taking the bait. However, of all the things Trump has pursued, nothing has exorcised Democrats like his crackdown on illegal immigration.

New Jersey’s governor, boldly proclaiming he was harboring an illegal immigrant, dared ICE to come…until ICE said they intended to. Democratic officials stormed a New Jersey ICE holding center. When a Milwaukee judge was arrested for helping an illegal immigrant avoid ICE capture, Democrats rallied around her, despite a judge’s job being one of impartiality on cases before the bench. 

When Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported from Maryland, the accused MS-13 gang member became a Democratic cause célèbre.  Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) went to El Salvador to have cocktails with Garcia; other Democratic members of Congress followed. Nationwide, Democrats have prominently counseled illegal immigrants on evading ICE. 

Still, the Los Angeles uprising over the last several days took Democratic efforts (or lack thereof when it comes to enforcement) to another level. Mayor Karen Bass (who already had bungled wildfires that caused enormous damage) and Gov. Gavin Newsom stood by as the city descended into anarchic chaos from protests over ICE doing its job. 

Trump called in the National Guard. Next, the Marines. Newsom called press conferences. And sued. He sought to cast himself as a political paladin, a knight-errant in defense of not enforcing immigration law.

The better term for Newsom and the rest of the Democrats rallying to the cause of blocking the deportation of immigrants in the country illegally would be “knights-in-error.” More accurate in terms of immigration and law enforcement policy, it would be more accurate still in terms of politics.

Having already given Trump a winning issue, they are now gift-wrapping it in images: attacking law enforcement, rioters, outside agitators, destruction, looting, burned-out vehicles, a city aflame. Each picture a winner for Trump, each one a loser for Democrats.

To understand how big a loser these visuals are for Democrats, just look at the polling numbers. 

RCP’s final average for President Biden’s job approval on crime was 38% approval and 59% disapproval – a negative 21 percentage-point margin. On immigration, Biden’s final job approval average was 33.5% approval and 64.8% disapproval – a negative 31.3 percentage-point margin. 

With negatives like these, why do Democrats insist on fighting on this terrain? Why Trump does is clear: His job approval on immigration is 51.5% approval versus 47% disapproval – a positive 4.5 percentage points. 

The figures on reduced illegal immigration and overall crime since he took office only burnish the law-and-order credentials Democrats are thrusting on him.

Even in California, increased law enforcement is a winner. California’s ballot measure that increased penalties for shoplifting and drug possession – and undid an earlier ballot measure relaxing these – passed overwhelmingly last November. 

Non-deluded Democrats have also voiced their concerns with picking this losing fight. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) have both had the temerity to swim against Democrats’ lemming tide. 

Immigration has become a laser pointer for Trump to use on Democrats. With every flash of the red dot, Democrats instinctively respond, each time believing one more pat of the paw, one more snap of the jaw, and they will have seized what is forever a pounce away.

It is not true that Democrats do not have an agenda; they do: Trump’s. Or rather, Trump’s agenda has them. And on immigration, it has Democrats right where Trump wants them.

J.T. Young is the author of the recent book, Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America’s Socialist Left from RealClear Publishing and has over three decades’ experience working in Congress, the Department of Treasury, the Office of Management, and Budget, and representing a Fortune 20 company.