Senate Democrats failed last week in their effort to end the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to arrest, detain, and deport illegal immigrants. They voted to fund every DHS agency except Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thankfully, ICE can keep going on funds from the One Big Beautiful Bill to deport people in the country illegally. But across the country, states controlled by Democrats continue to pass unpopular legislation to prevent immigration law enforcement.
While the Senate was debating DHS funding last week, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation banning state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration law enforcement officials. New Jersey thus joins California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington in allowing illegal immigrants to commit crimes without fear that they will be turned over to federal authorities for deportation. Virginia’s legislature passed similar legislation that is waiting for Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s signature, and Spanberger already issued an executive order banning such cooperation.
These policies are popular among activists and the Democratic base, but new polling from the Searchlight Institute, a Democrat think tank, shows the general public disagrees. It found that 53% of voters support deporting all illegal immigrants who arrived in the country in the last 4 years, 91% supported deporting violent criminals, and 61% supported deporting those who have committed non-violent crimes as well.
When asked if state and local law enforcement officers should check the immigration status of people arrested and share it with ICE, 63% of voters said yes. Another 64% said ICE should be allowed to arrest illegal immigrants at courthouses, and 52% said they should be allowed to arrest illegal immigrants at routine check-ins or appointments.
As unpopular as President Donald Trump’s immigration policies are, just 43% of voters said he was doing “too much” when it comes to deporting illegal immigrants, while 45% said he was either doing “too little” or “about right.” This finding tracks with other polling from the Associated Press, Navigator Research, Quinnipiac University, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal that shows voters trust Republicans more on immigration than they trust Democrats.
The recent murder of teenager Sheridan Gorman in Chicago shows why. Gorman, a Loyola University freshman, was shot to death in cold blood by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela while walking with friends at Tobey Prinz Beach on Chicago’s North Side. The killer, Jose Medina, was released into the country by the Biden administration in May 2023. One month later, Medina was arrested for shoplifting at a Macy’s store in Chicago. In a sane world, Chicago Police would have notified ICE of Medina’s arrest and detained him until ICE could take him and deport him. But there is nothing sane about Chicago’s immigration policies, and Medina was released into the public, free to kill Gorman.
WHAT ARE BLUE STATES GETTING FOR ALL THAT SPENDING?
Democrats give their law enforcement legislation names such as the “Immigrant Safety Act” or the “Immigrant Trust Act.” But what about the safety of citizens? Shouldn’t people born in the U.S. be able to trust that they will be protected from illegal immigrants? Apparently not.
Trump told Democrats they “should be ashamed” of themselves for not agreeing with the statement that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants.” At the time, many called this a political stunt. But looking at how Democrats refuse to help enforce immigration laws, it is clearly a fair assessment.
