An additional thought: The anti-deportation protests give lie to the anti-immigrant idea that “they” can never truly be part of “our” community. People in LA are demonstrating in defense of their community.
Not a fan of counterfactuals, but if things don’t spin out of control (fingers crossed), I wonder if the initial raids would have generated less outrage had Trump ordered them before the CECOT debacle. The administration has already shown its ineptitude executing ostensibly popular policies. There could be less tolerance for overreach here.
Also: The situation is the result of three decades of congressional cowardice regarding immigration reform. The Clinton and GWB administrations wanted to restore order, reason, and compassion to immigration policy. Congress chickened out. Both parties. Biden checked out. Trump is pushing the limits of his power for multiple reasons, but something like this is a tragic outcome of many missed opportunities.
I'm not sure if "chickened out" is quite right - my memory (glad to be corrected) is that there were majorities in Congress for reform, but that Tancredo-Buchanan Republicans had enough numbers on their side to serve as an effective veto nonetheless, because they didn't want reform they wanted an end to brown migration entirely and were willing to leave the system in a bad place otherwise.
Yeah, Bush lacked the political capital to overcome the Tancredo types (who were, to be honest, a minority of Republicans at the time) but who also had some allies in the Sanders crowd who argued that low-skilled immigration (and high-skilled, for that matter) harmed US workers.
By the time Obama was in office, the Great Sort had kicked in and there weren’t enough pro-immigration Republicans to overcome the rank partisans (and people with other agendas, ahem) who wouldn’t give Obama a win.
Civil war? I think that is highly improbable. Where is the majority in favor of illegal aliens remaining in this country? Most support legal immigration. Don't attempt to conflate the two.
Three things can be true:
1) Trump’s actions here are legal
2) They are politically popular (so long as the situation doesn’t devolve into another Rodney King-like urban revolt … or Kent State)
3) They’re scary as hell
Since neither Newsom nor Bass requested assistance, they’re kinda off the hook in a PR sense.
P.S. The initial ICE raids are downright disgusting.
An additional thought: The anti-deportation protests give lie to the anti-immigrant idea that “they” can never truly be part of “our” community. People in LA are demonstrating in defense of their community.
Not a fan of counterfactuals, but if things don’t spin out of control (fingers crossed), I wonder if the initial raids would have generated less outrage had Trump ordered them before the CECOT debacle. The administration has already shown its ineptitude executing ostensibly popular policies. There could be less tolerance for overreach here.
Or it’ll all be forgotten in a few weeks.
Also: The situation is the result of three decades of congressional cowardice regarding immigration reform. The Clinton and GWB administrations wanted to restore order, reason, and compassion to immigration policy. Congress chickened out. Both parties. Biden checked out. Trump is pushing the limits of his power for multiple reasons, but something like this is a tragic outcome of many missed opportunities.
I'm not sure if "chickened out" is quite right - my memory (glad to be corrected) is that there were majorities in Congress for reform, but that Tancredo-Buchanan Republicans had enough numbers on their side to serve as an effective veto nonetheless, because they didn't want reform they wanted an end to brown migration entirely and were willing to leave the system in a bad place otherwise.
Yeah, Bush lacked the political capital to overcome the Tancredo types (who were, to be honest, a minority of Republicans at the time) but who also had some allies in the Sanders crowd who argued that low-skilled immigration (and high-skilled, for that matter) harmed US workers.
Sowing, reaping, etc.
By the time Obama was in office, the Great Sort had kicked in and there weren’t enough pro-immigration Republicans to overcome the rank partisans (and people with other agendas, ahem) who wouldn’t give Obama a win.
Add Obama to the presidents who at least expressed desire for rational reforms.
Civil war? I think that is highly improbable. Where is the majority in favor of illegal aliens remaining in this country? Most support legal immigration. Don't attempt to conflate the two.