Caitlin Dickerson

Because the law says anyone without status, no matter who they are—

is eligible for deportation.

Congress has a lot of power over ICE if it chooses to use it.

I think Lake and Riley...

is really significant.

And the fact that Gallego voted for it, as did other swing state Democrats and middle of the road Democrats, is really a reflection of the confused kind of lack

Yeah.

Right.

And then at other times, in response to what they perceive to be public opinion turning against immigrants, go and vote for very restrictive legislation that makes all these problems they've been complaining about worse.

There are a few different theories as to why Democrats have...

really not shown leadership on this issue at all whatsoever.

I mean, one is this idea you'll hear Democrats talking about they feel like the party is fighting scared.

So Democrats are always susceptible to this criticism that they're soft on crime, that they're open to lawlessness, that they were prioritizing DEI and people of color over public safety.

And so immigration very much falls easily into that

kind of easy beating that they can take on a campaign trail and forces Democrats to have to come from a defensive crouch and show this ability to have a kind of strongman image.

But I think another probably more important and, of course, more cynical issue is it's just politics, right?

So

Donald Trump saw a very clear upside in focusing on immigration for himself from his earliest campaign rallies.

And he smartly intuited, these people are going to show up and vote for me if I keep talking about this.

And he has continued to talk about it.