Trump’s aggressive deportation measures create political challenges

BOERNE, Texas – As I have mentioned before in this space, when people on the road start bringing up an issue without me mentioning it, my antenna goes up. And recently, the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation measures have been sparking conversation.

Just this week at Pinchy’s Seafood restaurant, I met Paul and Tonya, who live nearby. The town and its surroundings are doing pretty well. High-end stores occupy the limestone buildings of 1910 or so origin along with fancy restaurants.

TRUMP DIRECTS ICE TO EXPAND DEPORTATION EFFORTS IN AMERICA’S LARGEST CITIES

It was Tonya who raised the issue of deportations, telling me, “there are so many hard-working people here, and I don’t know if they are documented or not, and I don’t ask. But they are good and decent. It’s scary that they could just disappear.”

Paul is a local businessman, and because his company handles federal contracts, he can’t hire illegal migrants himself. But he told me that “a lot of businesses don’t have a replacement for it.” 

I don’t argue with the people I meet on the road; I just listen. But I couldn’t help hearing the voices of others I’ve spoken to, specifically some of Trump’s biggest supporters, whose attitude is, “Sorry, but you came illegally and now you have to go.”

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has vowed that deportations will continue. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque and Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In fact, it is often these better-off communities that are blamed for the illegal immigration problem, owing to their desire for cheap domestic and landscaping labor.

Polling, in fact, indicates that the deportation of illegal migrants who are not accused of other crimes has majority support among all voters, with strong support from independents. But it’s hard to know how much of that support comes from people who know somebody under the direct threat of deportation.

Earlier in the day, I had met Bill, a Democrat in his 60s who told me that he had believed that Trump’s plan was “to deport criminals, not to do raids at Walmart.” I hear that sentiment quite a bit.

In fact, Trump, since the campaign trail, and border czar Tom Homan, since January, have always said that if an illegal with no other criminal charges gets caught up in a raid, they will be deported. 

On the other hand, Trump has recently sent some mixed messages about the need for illegal farm and hotel workers, promising that there will be no amnesty, but perhaps a guest worker program or something for those industries.

Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tom Homan sits at “Fox & Friends.” (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Bill had also heard that ICE was baiding Catholic churches, something that this week Homan addressed after a California bishop, Alberto Rojas, gave special dispensation to illegals to miss mass, citing fears they could be arrested at church.

“It’s B.S.,” Homan said on Tuesday, adding, “I do not know of a single incident of a church arrest.” On Wednesday he flat out told Fox News Channel, “It’s not happening.”

That is a message the administration needs to repeat loud and clear, because a lot of people believe it is happening. What struck me most about my conversations about deportations, especially with Tanya, was that this clearly had an emotional impact. It did for Bill too, along with others. That’s not true of every issue.

For the worried folks I met in Texas, the Trump administration has to send a clearer signal. If the deal is that everyone has to go, as is the theme of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s aggressive TV ads, that has to not only be clearly stated but justified.

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If, on the other hand, as Trump has hinted, there are to be some exceptions made, that too must be laid out in detail, so that people can make judgments about the policy. The confusion at the moment is starting to become a problem.

It is understandable why President Trump is acting cautiously here. Unlike tariffs or the attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, which did not fracture the MAGA coalition, mass deportations are a much different matter.

There are an awful lot of Trump voters who I have met, and I’m not talking about podcasters, for whom the promise to deport everyone here illegally, or at least try, is the core reason they support him. For them, anything close to amnesty would be a bitter betrayal.

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It almost seems unfair that, after miraculously shutting down a southern border that had been a gushing wound, in just six months, Trump finds himself in such a political pickle over deportations. But nobody ever said being president is easy.

For now, the best thing the administration can do is to get its story straight and level with the American people about what the deportation plan really is. Then, let the political chips fall where they may.

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