The polls indicate that Trump is underwater on immigration, his signature issue. What should we conclude from that?
Part of it is the inevitable disillusionment of largely disengaged voters who thought they were choosing the economy of 2019 and got tariffs and chaos instead. But the bigger part, as I predicted during the campaign, is that Americans wanted an immigration system that was orderly and humane. Biden didn’t deliver order until the end of his term and was punished for it; Trump has given us Alligator Alcatraz, guys in masks pulling helpless people off the streets, and prison in El Salvador. That is neither orderly nor humane.
For the Democrats, the important lesson here is not to overreact to the oppression as they did in 2020 and to start advocating for open borders. Opposing an inhumane process is absolutely necessary; letting everyone in is a mistake.