Immigration was arguably the largest issue in the 2016 election, and it will likely be central again in the upcoming midterm elections.
But hashing out this issue isn’t moving the country closer to action. Both Trump and his “abolish ICE” critics have polarized the issue and are pulling the country away from workable solutions on immigration. Although both sides may galvanize their base with angry rhetoric, ultimately, it prevents changes to a system that everyone agrees must be reformed. That’s a loss for Americans of all political stripes.
Solidifying his position and playing to his base, Trump hosted an event on Monday aimed at further entrenching the differences. It was a celebration of federal immigration officers, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more commonly known as ICE, held at the White House.
Trump’s event honored about 150 officers and agents during the “Salute to the Heroes” program that also featured lawmakers that echo Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and impromptu speeches from the agents themselves.
[Read: Trump makes immigration top midterm campaign issue, hoping to put Dems on ICE]
The president made this explicitly political explained in a statement that the officers had been “subjected to a nationwide campaign of smears, insults, and attacks by politicians shamelessly catering to the extreme elements in our society that desire lawlessness and anarchy.”
After rattling off violent crimes committed by immigrants (never mind that immigrants are actually more likely to be victims of crime) Trump offered his solutions: “we will stop sanctuary cities, we will end the ridiculous policy of catch and release.”
For supporters, the images of immigrant crime also draw attention away from recent controversies involving the Trump administration’s immigration policy including the family separation debacle, ending a program that offered a path to citizenship for military service, and the deportation of spouses of Americans – including those who had served in the military. All of which have drawn criticism from the Right as well as the Left.
Trump ended his speech with praise for the officers saying: “you are the warriors for justice, you are great people.”
This rhetoric and the event itself were calculated to drum up the Republican base and cast Republicans as supportive of “law and justice” while casting Democrats as the people who “don’t mind crime.”
Setting up that dichotomy has thus far worked well on the Right. When Trump talks about immigrants who have murdered Americans, it’s easy to agree with him that something should be done. As a political strategy, highlighting specific crimes and specific victims is an excellent tactic.
That event was also a direct rebuke of the “abolish ICE” movement which has coalesced as prominent figures on the Left such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have championed the slogan. More recently, both Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have also taken this stance.
In one example of just how far this rhetoric goes, Los Angles officials set up a fund to help immigrants fight deportation proceedings. Shockingly, restrictions that prevented or limited access to that money for people with violent felony convictions met with resistance even though those cases were both broadly unpopular and unlikely to win.
Although the slogan “abolish ICE” has about as much room for nuance as “build the wall” both are exactly the sort of fiery rhetoric that makes good campaign ads and talking points.
Therein lies the problem. Issues with American immigration range from the violent crimes that Trump focuses on to blocking visas, separating families and a backlog of court dates for asylum seekers, among others that are the talking points for the Left.
There are real issues, and exaggerations, on both sides. Yes, violent criminals should be deported but no, it is not right to separate families at the border. Most Americans would agree with both positions.
There will be no progress on finding long-term solutions to reforming U.S. immigration policy if the Left and the Right dig in on their slogans that masquerade as policy. Indeed, it doesn’t have to be this way and Trump himself offered an alternative by hosting a bipartisan meeting on immigration. Now though, with midterm elections looming and televised fiery political posturing the focus of the nation that seems to be itching for confrontations not compromise, solutions are off the proverbial table.
