When Donald Trump spoke at his rallies for his second presidential campaign, he held a strong anti-immigrant position and openly promised to be harsher on undocumented immigrants. He declared he was going to remove restrictions on ICE arrests at public institutions such as churches, schools and hospitals, as reported by NBC News. He used dehumanizing language to describe them, and has made it harder for immigrants fleeing poor conditions in their home countries to enter the so-called United States. As part of his plan he hired former ICE head Tom Homan as his so-called “border czar”. He placed Homan in charge of the northern and southern border, as the name implies. Since then, Trump has unsurprisingly followed through with his promises; he has mobilized around 20,000 agents to deport about 150,000 immigrants (per CBS) in the mere span of 8 months. Although it is true that some of the blame must go to the Republicans for the deportations, responsibility should also go to the Democrats for also enabling this system.
When Trump and Harris were running for president, the latter decided to adopt anti-immigrant stances from the former’s campaign. According to Axios, Harris promised to continue building Trump’s border wall and strengthen conditions for people seeking asylum in the so-called United States. This shift towards anti-immigrant policy from Harris was rightfully criticized by immigration activists and Democrats as a weakening factor for her campaign and a hypocritical move of hers. Although this behavior isn’t new, considering the Biden administration surpassed Trump’s deportation record in 2019 prior to his second term with over 271,000 deported immigrants in the 2023 fiscal year, as reported by the BBC.
Democratic views in Congress on immigration have not changed following Trump’s victory and ascension to power, however. They did not decide to learn from Harris’s mistakes, and instead followed in her footsteps. Per Axios, 75 Democratic politicians signed a document supporting ICE, despite the abhorrent conditions many detained immigrants are forced into. It also doesn’t help when said politicians support policies that have most likely taken the lives of immigrants who wanted a better life.
