You've gotta be cruel to be kind in the right measure
Cruel to be kind, it's a very good sign
Cruel to be kind means that I love you,Nick Lowe, "Cruel to be Kind," 1979
Democrats are going to keep losing elections until they get immigration policy right.
Some Democratic leader needs to step up and admit that the emperor has no clothes. The Democrat will catch hell. Good. That is what turns a candidate into a leader. He or she defends the positions and sells it.
I watched Donald Trump up close during the summer of 2015. At first people scoffed. Pundits had a frame for understanding Trump. He was a showman, a gadfly, a tabloid playboy whose real mission was keeping his brand visible. He wasn't really running for president, ha-ha, don't be silly.
I watched it change in New Hampshire. He said things that were political and outrageous -- and then he stuck with his outrageous statements. And the public applauded. He said that immigrants were dangerous people. He insulted and dismissed Roseanne Barr and Megyn Kelly. He said the political establishment of both parties wasn't protecting American jobs. He repositioned himself into a truth-teller and legitimate candidate. Republican primary voters were not voting to continue a vanity campaign. They were electing their leader.
The criticism he got was essential. He stuck with his position. He sold it. Trump was a leader, not a follower stuck in groupthink.
A Democrat cannot try to finesse the immigration issue by keeping every Democratic voter happy. It is not enough to criticize ICE people for being rough or for wearing masks or for being careless in rounding up people. That criticism does not confront or solve the immigration problem for the Democratic brand. Voters think Democrats are so squeamish about immigration enforcement that they are unwilling to say "no" to anyone. That badly damages the Democratic brand.
 |
| Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun |
Mass immigration at the southern border was a problem, not just for Fox News, but for real. Democrats began waking up when those masses moved to blue cities in the north. Trump was dishonest to say that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating pets, but there was indeed a crush of people when 20,000 Haitian immigrants moved to Springfield, Ohio, a town of 60,000, under the Temporary Protected Status. One did not need to be racist to think this was an abrupt and visible strain on local resources.
A Democrat who can lead the party to victory in 2028 will openly change Democratic policy from one that indulges illegal immigration -- because enforcement comes across as so disruptive and cruel -- to one that openly and proudly enforces immigration law. Enforce carefully, yes, but enforce for real.
Having immigration be controlled and bureaucratic is the price of allowing robust immigration. Tough love enforcement protects immigration. It is the alternative to racist right-wing populism. Tough love enforcement also protects public support for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, public education, school lunch programs, universal access to emergency medicine, housing programs, and law enforcement. Democrats fought for generations to put these in place.
A tough-love Democrats should expect condemnation from activists in the party. Welcome it, even though it will hurt. It is how people learn that a new voice has emerged. Primary election activists and donors will be looking at the well-stocked buffet of candidates, seeking the one that most precisely fits their taste. Very possibly no Democrat will dare make the break with that group. That group is subject to groupthink. They are the ones who fund primary campaigns. It will look like the easy-money straight shot to the nomination.
It isn't the way to win a general election.
Democrats will become a popular party when a Democratic aspirant for president says that the way to have immigration that serves Americans is for it to be as tough and regulated as are auto registrations. Cars without stickers on license plates are stopped, ticketed, and subject to being seized and towed. That isn't racism or xenophobia; it is order. Democrats need to show they are OK with order.
A candidate that can lead will have the confidence and rhetorical skills to argue that he or she is the greatest friend of immigrants and a compassionate safety net.
[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com and subscribe. The blog is free and always will be.]
8 comments:
American citizens of Spanish descent who immigrated to this country years ago went through the proper process to become American citizens. They are unhappy to see the rules disregarded, watching others bypass the procedures they themselves followed. In 2024, Democrats lost ground with their base of Hispanic voters for this very reason; many assumed Trump would bring order to the immigration dilemma. Quotas can also be effective. Subjecting a small community to an influx of ten percent or more immigrants strains resources and hinders assimilation. Currently, there is no comprehensive immigration policy coming from the Trump administration, just more chaos and bluster.
The United States already allows one million legal immigrants into America every year, which is more than the rest of the world combined. How much more immigration do you want? Americans are already being generous with immigration. Any more than we already allow ruins our country, but the Democrats don't care about that. 20,000 Haitians ruined Springfield, OH.
The flaw in this argument is that immigration, illegal or otherwise is a "problem". It might be for a minority of racists, who are now the Republican base, but for all the companies that employ them and consumers who enjoy low prices for food, until recently, and landscaping, and roofs and etc., it's a bedrock of the economy. We're just going to have to learn this the hard way, unfortunately.
For those of you who live in southern Oregon, just think of what importing 20,000 Haitians into Medford would do to Medford. It wouldn't be good.
Twenty thousand Haitians living in and close to downtown Medford would improve the place.
Don’t forget all those dogs and cats that will be devoured.
Most Americans simply disagree with most Americans on the left that America has a moral obligation to provide functionally open borders and/or lax immigration enforcement because of what those on the left characterize as America's past and ongoing geopolitical villainy at the expense of poorer nations.
Anonymous said the United States already allows one million legal immigrants into America every year, which is more than the rest of the world combined. How much more immigration do you want? The answer is that we need considerably more. The birth rate in the U.S. is now well below the replacement level--1.7 per women of childbearing age vs. 2.1. And our population is aging rapidly. Without immigrant workers, our social security and Medicare trust funds will collapse.
Post a Comment