Trump Should Listen to the Voters on Immigration After the 2026 Midterms
Trump Says His Deportation Policy May Have Been “Too Tough”
As we wrote previously, American voters sent a loud and clear message to President Trump on Election Day: they are fed up with his Administration’s violent and inhumane immigration agenda. The President seemed to recognize this himself, when he conceded on 60 Minutes on Sunday night that his immigration tactics “might be too tough… .”
He admitted that, while some Americans support his immigration agenda, others thought:
People that had good jobs, that– that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally…. there’s a large part of the country that think that they should be allowed to stay if they’re good people working in a landscaping company, or workin’ in a hotel, or doing something, right? And in some cases, paying taxes. And there’s a large group of people who think that they should be allowed to stay.
The President also singled out immigration as an issue on which he’d like to work with the new Democratic majorities in Congress and described a potential compromise as “get the killers out. Get all the– the rough ones out. Get the drug dealers out. But let the people that are here, and in some cases here for ten and 15 years, work a deal for them.”
The Trump Administration is Sending Mixed Signals on Immigration
But the Administration has been sending mixed messages. The day after Election Day, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin tweeted out: “The deportations will continue.” Meanwhile, Trump promoted the architect of his immigration agenda, Stephen Miller, naming him White House Chief of Staff.
Vice President Vance posted a lengthy diatribe about the reasons for the GOP’s pummeling at the polls, but notably did not mention immigration. The mixed signals are bewildering, but not incredibly surprising from an Administration whose only North Star seems to be cruelty and chaos.
How Strict Immigration Policies are Affecting Longtime U.S. Residents
Examples abound. One of the requirements to become a naturalized citizen is the demonstration of “good moral character.” We have seen DHS reject an application for naturalization for issues as minor as filing a tax extension—which 15 million Americans did this year—even when the applicant had paid all outstanding tax obligations. Why would the U.S. reject a potential tax-paying citizen? Cruelty.
Another client, who has been a legal permanent resident of the U.S. for 20 years and is a beloved local baseball coach, is currently detained in Louisiana, a thousand miles away from his wife and U.S. citizen children.
His transgression? Failing to list one family member when he filed his green card application two decades ago. Why are we locking up hard-working, tax-paying little league coaches? Cruelty.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has discretion to adjust an immigrant’s status in some cases and has long used a totality of circumstances approach in adjustment of status matters involving discretion.
Things like strong family ties in the United States, a history of working hard and paying your taxes, and no criminal history weigh in your favor. USCIS, however, has recently been denying these applications for small infractions such as paying taxes late (even with an extension) and minor overstays of a visa.
Why are we denying legal permanent status to people who have strong family ties and no criminal history over such trifling issues? Cruelty.
We hope the Trump Administration will do a serious investigation into why Democrats won up and down the ballot and in states traditionally purple and even deep red. They will learn that Americans think this immigration crackdown has gone way too far. That will learn that Americans don’t want to see their neighbors murdered in the street. They don’t want to see college students and little league coaches in ICE detention.
While it is rare that we agree with anything that comes out of President Trump’s mouth, for once he was right: Americans don’t want to see their hardworking, tax-paying neighbors, in his words, “put out.” We hope that this is a time when our elected leaders can come together and reform our broken immigration system.