Cruelty, like racism, is defined by Democrats as "disagreeing with Democrats."
- Over a million babies aborted every year is "healthcare" not cruelty.
- Plunging about a third of the population into poverty because of the Sexual Revolution is "freedom", not cruelty.
- Defunding the police and giving the tiny minority of black criminals more power in black neighborhoods is "empathy", not cruelty.
- Defending Islam - and FGM, honor killings, mandatory veiling, rape of unveiled women, coerced marriage, underage marriage, and polygamy - is "multiculturalism", not cruelty.
I will continue to encourage Democrats to jump on the “abolish ICE” movement. It is absolute campaign gold for Republicans. There is nothing kind about it though. The negative impacts to US citizens and legal residents is real and profound… a lack of housing being one. But there are tremendous negative impacts to the home countries of theses illegal immigrants as they bleed their population and despotic tyrannical regimes have less internal opposition. Democrat behavior here is all performative and lacks pragmatism. Their destructive absurdity is cruel beyond anything we see from ICE. Because they are such a risk in power, we need to keep encouraging them to show their destructive absurdity so the voters are well informed.
"There is nothing kind about it though. The negative impacts to US citizens and legal residents is real and profound"
Yup, and liberal white women in upper-middle class neighborhoods don't have to bear the costs massive immigration. It's just a virtue signal for them. Working class blacks do bear the costs of immigration and they seem to be bigger immigration hawks than whites, perhaps because they don't have to fear the charge of racism. I don't think the Democrats realize that this, and moreover, that it will drive the realignment of black voters to the Republican Party. The correct mental model of low-information black voters is identical to low-information white voters plus having been told their entire life that all white people are racist.
Edit: also, the George Floyd 2.0 does not work when the person is (1) the aggressor, and (2) white.
No discussion about Democrats and their policies on immigration and ICE is complete without bringing up the elephant in the room: sanctuary cities and states.
The first step must be to stop the sanctuary nonsense. Protecting criminal illegals from deportation renders suspect anything else Democrats say about immigration. Nobody will believe Democrats until they denounce the farce of sanctuary cities.
Don’t want ICE in your streets? Turn over illegals detained by local law enforcement to federal authorities.
This view of immigration is too simplistic. Yes, we need an immigration enforcement agency. Yes, we don’t want people to cross our borders willy-nilly. But they wouldn’t be coming if American employers didn’t hire them and American landlords rent to them. Sending hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of masked men into a community to arrest people illegally there is more political theater than law enforcement.
What we need is comprehensive immigration reform. There are conservative proposals that could effectively staunch the flow of illegal entry and remove people here illegally. For example, employers who did not check the registry of foreign nationals legally entitled to work here would be punished. A survey could determine the number of foreign workers needed by employment sectors, and a government agency could establish quotas. People already here or wanting entry could be vetted and approved for work here for a designated period of years. Such proposals would deter illegal entry and cause people here without a work permit to leave. Republicans don’t want to surrender a wedge issue that delivers voters to them. So nobody is talking seriously about solving the problem.
You know employers are prohibited from checking 'valid' paperwork, right? Here in our city an illegal immigrant was HR for a company, and never submitted any of the illegal employee paperwork (so they couldn't be charged). So sick of this gaming of the system. If someone sneaks across the border and forges paperwork, start there.
I agree that heavily penalizing employers for hiring illegal workers is by far the best way to minimize illegal immigration as opposed to the current ICE tactics. But the opposition to that idea comes from two groups:
(1) Chamber of Commerce Republicans who want an unlimited supply of cheap, compliant workers in order to minimize labor costs. For all his tough talk on illegal immigration, Trump has not called for heavily penalizing employers.
(2) Left-wing activists and Democratic politicians who regard these illegal workers - overwhelmingly low-skilled, minimally educated, low-income - as future Democratic voters.
This is a leadership competence moment for Democrats: disappoint the loudest activists and refuse the maximalist slogan. You can oppose abuses without delegitimizing enforcement itself. The message should be: enforcement is necessary. Misconduct is not. And accountability does not mean physically obstructing federal agents doing lawful work. Passive protest is legitimate; aggressive interference is dangerous and predictably escalatory. Then back the message with visible accountability and a real systems fix: clear standards, training, oversight, and consequences for violations. Plus faster hearing,clearer rules, and workable legal immigration and assimilation (starting with English). That’s how you avoid another “Defund” mess while still addressing real problems in how enforcement is carried out
All too sensible you guys. Good luck selling this to the rabid bat-wing of the party. I disagree with the notion that ICE is engaging in "cruel" tactics. In fact, I think they've been remarkably restrained. If someone blows an air-horn in my ear, they will not have teeth. I'm 75, or it would be worse, as they could probably outrun me.
Ruy, the problem is that the rational democrat leadership has left the building. A three party affair (in which one party is composed of Kennedy democrats another is composed of the kamikaze who now run the democrat party and the third is composed of those who aren’t lemmings) will keep conservatives in the drivers seat. That may not be your preference but right now it’s the only one that makes sense.
Texeira again nails it. More like a 95-5 than 80-20 issue, and a harbinger to a less than overwhelming midterm resurgence for the Democratuc Party if they can't, or won't, change their tune before then.
Dems keep insisting they object to ICE tactics. That is a red herring. They object to 90% of US Immigration Law. Dems desperately desire all current and future non violent immigrants remain in the US permanently. No questions asked.
Dems demand an end to interior enforcement, not out of beneficence, but because without immigrants, Dems would soon be the permanent US House minority. That is likely a precursor to Whig status.
Nor does the game plan probably end with killing Interior Enforcement. Killing the filibuster and granting mass amnesty, that includes citizenship, is the Dem football crossing the end zone. 2028 may be their last, best chance.
Dems have no choice. Americans have voted with their feet en mass. And they keep moving from Blue States to Red States. Nor does a reverse seem likely.
Mamdani's plans for control of NYC housing stock, free child care and free public buses has "TIMBER" written all over it. Just as the number of Texas finance workers surpasses NYC, and the Lone Star State starts a new Stock Exchange.
In CA, the State budget is probably past redemption. CA spent $100 billion, around the year 2000, with a population of 34 million. This year the budget is a staggering $349 billion with a population under 40 million. In 25 years, spending increased 3.5X, while the population grew 20%.
At the current rate, by 2050 CA will spend far more than $1 trillion dollars a year to govern 48 million people. Those numbers do not include more than $1 trillion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. The hole is so deep, Billionaires realizing they are the only life boat left, are astutely beginning to flee.
The CA budget has exploded for the same reason NYC housing now requires vast more subsidy. Millions of American taxpayers that utilized few government subsidies, have fled. To the extent they were replaced, it was by those with far less income and far more need of all types of government support.
IL and Minnesota are just as undesirable. Parts of Minneapolis have yet to burst into flame for the 2nd time in 7 years, but the day is still young. All before we get to the massive public fraud likely to be revealed over the next 3 years, because someone is finally interested in ending it.
For the Dem Party, the next few years are 4th and long. Negating immigration law is their Hail Mary.
My favorite on the signs is "science is real." This from "progressives" who think that a man can become a woman by taking drugs and getting cosmetic surgery. LOL
It’s funny how often the “human kindness” folx are also completely unmoved by the Islamic regime massacring thousands of protesting Iranians, and practically excited about the kind of “Palestinian resistance” that involves raping, torturing, wounding, murdering and abducting thousands of Israeli civilians.
It really has zero to do with “kindness” or “no human is illegal” and everything to do with them being illiberal, hating democracy, hating the majority of Americans (and their allies) deeply, and wishing suffering and death on those masses.
Two very powerful constituencies like things just as they are. 1. All businesses. The price of labor cuts into profits. Even industries that employ no illegal labor benefit in that there are many more legal employees at a much lower price. 2. The upper middle class who enjoy a servant class unimaginable in prior years. Cleaning house is no longer done. Likewise lawn mowing, and other yard chores. Most workers at restaurants and food delivery are sans social security numbers.
Elites run countries, they are the most intelligent, they control entertainment, academia, and the media. Elites run for office, own businesses, and pay politicians.
Already I hear screaming and crying that we need more mechanics, and construction workers and blah blah blah. They want trade school for something a non English speaker learn to do in 2 hours. Anything rather than pay well enough to entice Gen Z away from the game console.
I should kick back and hire a cleaning crew, my wife would consider me a hero.
I agree that calling on ICE to have a sense of proportion and restraint is what Democrats should support. Sorry, that's not going to happen. I live about 20 miles from all the craziness in the Twin Cities, and it's clear beyond all doubt that any aspiring Democratic politician here (and most everywhere else) has to be on board with Abolish ICE. They want no enforcement of immigration laws, period. If you enter the country you get to stay forever and receive public benefits immediately, and eventually citizenship and the right to vote.
All of this assumes that Democrats are not in favor of open borders. That this is a framing issue, not an actual substantive policy disagreement between the two parties.
I am not convinced that is true.
Unchecked illegal immigration helps Democrats bolster their population in deep blue cities which are experiencing organic population loss, thus increasing their representation in Congress.
I think this post is poorly thought out. The headline fact about the current politics of ICE is that it's well documented excessive tactics have driven Trump's immigration policy support into negative territory. When Mr. Teixeira writes, ". . . characterizations of ICE as a modern-day Gestapo, Nazis, an occupying force, etc have become so common as to be unremarkable," it is because this characterization feels to many who are *not* extreme progressives accurate. DHS and the Trump Administration have made a serious miscalculation because they believe that display of *cruelty* in this context will be effective political theater.
This is precisely the point where "Don't Be Cruel" can be an effective response. Mr. Teixeira is correct that this was not an effective policy theme for border issues in the past and will not be an effective policy theme for border issues in the future. But it is an effective theme in this moment.
When it comes to long-term policy I think Mr. Teixeira is on target, as was the proposed bipartisan bill that the Biden administration supported. But immigration policy debate is not the same as debate about ICE's conduct and the degree to which that conduct has become endemic within ICE. To ignore the fact that the tactics ICE detractors refer to as "modern-day Gestapo" conduct seems *intentionally* designed to appear as such is to ignore the essential political dynamics of this moment. I agree that "Abolish ICE" shares many features with "Abolish the Police," but the slogan does not seem to be hurting Democrats at the moment because the excesses of ICE are real and apparently intentional (note the widespread coverage of transparently white nationalist and Nazi themed PR coming from the DHS). The parallels with George Floyd -- one incident inciting a call to abolish the police -- are not strong: ICE's deployment in waves to specific cities and its theater and street tactics (which are *not* lawful in many regards, undermining the legitimacy of these "law enforcement officers") are repeated and, quite simply, frightening to people in its path. These are different experiential and political contexts and Mr. Teixeira, a well-respected political tactician, seems tone deaf in not recognizing that political tactics need to respond to this. (Having said this, I do think repeating the "abolish" theme is a second-order tactical error.)
I look to Mr. Teixeira to offer timely and insightful guidance to Liberal Patriots. I do not think he is doing that here.
Cruelty, like racism, is defined by Democrats as "disagreeing with Democrats."
- Over a million babies aborted every year is "healthcare" not cruelty.
- Plunging about a third of the population into poverty because of the Sexual Revolution is "freedom", not cruelty.
- Defunding the police and giving the tiny minority of black criminals more power in black neighborhoods is "empathy", not cruelty.
- Defending Islam - and FGM, honor killings, mandatory veiling, rape of unveiled women, coerced marriage, underage marriage, and polygamy - is "multiculturalism", not cruelty.
I will continue to encourage Democrats to jump on the “abolish ICE” movement. It is absolute campaign gold for Republicans. There is nothing kind about it though. The negative impacts to US citizens and legal residents is real and profound… a lack of housing being one. But there are tremendous negative impacts to the home countries of theses illegal immigrants as they bleed their population and despotic tyrannical regimes have less internal opposition. Democrat behavior here is all performative and lacks pragmatism. Their destructive absurdity is cruel beyond anything we see from ICE. Because they are such a risk in power, we need to keep encouraging them to show their destructive absurdity so the voters are well informed.
"There is nothing kind about it though. The negative impacts to US citizens and legal residents is real and profound"
Yup, and liberal white women in upper-middle class neighborhoods don't have to bear the costs massive immigration. It's just a virtue signal for them. Working class blacks do bear the costs of immigration and they seem to be bigger immigration hawks than whites, perhaps because they don't have to fear the charge of racism. I don't think the Democrats realize that this, and moreover, that it will drive the realignment of black voters to the Republican Party. The correct mental model of low-information black voters is identical to low-information white voters plus having been told their entire life that all white people are racist.
Edit: also, the George Floyd 2.0 does not work when the person is (1) the aggressor, and (2) white.
No discussion about Democrats and their policies on immigration and ICE is complete without bringing up the elephant in the room: sanctuary cities and states.
The first step must be to stop the sanctuary nonsense. Protecting criminal illegals from deportation renders suspect anything else Democrats say about immigration. Nobody will believe Democrats until they denounce the farce of sanctuary cities.
Don’t want ICE in your streets? Turn over illegals detained by local law enforcement to federal authorities.
This view of immigration is too simplistic. Yes, we need an immigration enforcement agency. Yes, we don’t want people to cross our borders willy-nilly. But they wouldn’t be coming if American employers didn’t hire them and American landlords rent to them. Sending hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of masked men into a community to arrest people illegally there is more political theater than law enforcement.
What we need is comprehensive immigration reform. There are conservative proposals that could effectively staunch the flow of illegal entry and remove people here illegally. For example, employers who did not check the registry of foreign nationals legally entitled to work here would be punished. A survey could determine the number of foreign workers needed by employment sectors, and a government agency could establish quotas. People already here or wanting entry could be vetted and approved for work here for a designated period of years. Such proposals would deter illegal entry and cause people here without a work permit to leave. Republicans don’t want to surrender a wedge issue that delivers voters to them. So nobody is talking seriously about solving the problem.
You know employers are prohibited from checking 'valid' paperwork, right? Here in our city an illegal immigrant was HR for a company, and never submitted any of the illegal employee paperwork (so they couldn't be charged). So sick of this gaming of the system. If someone sneaks across the border and forges paperwork, start there.
If you actually want to penalize employers for hiring illegals (which I doubt), then don't make it illegal to check their citizenship documents.
I agree that heavily penalizing employers for hiring illegal workers is by far the best way to minimize illegal immigration as opposed to the current ICE tactics. But the opposition to that idea comes from two groups:
(1) Chamber of Commerce Republicans who want an unlimited supply of cheap, compliant workers in order to minimize labor costs. For all his tough talk on illegal immigration, Trump has not called for heavily penalizing employers.
(2) Left-wing activists and Democratic politicians who regard these illegal workers - overwhelmingly low-skilled, minimally educated, low-income - as future Democratic voters.
This is a leadership competence moment for Democrats: disappoint the loudest activists and refuse the maximalist slogan. You can oppose abuses without delegitimizing enforcement itself. The message should be: enforcement is necessary. Misconduct is not. And accountability does not mean physically obstructing federal agents doing lawful work. Passive protest is legitimate; aggressive interference is dangerous and predictably escalatory. Then back the message with visible accountability and a real systems fix: clear standards, training, oversight, and consequences for violations. Plus faster hearing,clearer rules, and workable legal immigration and assimilation (starting with English). That’s how you avoid another “Defund” mess while still addressing real problems in how enforcement is carried out
All too sensible you guys. Good luck selling this to the rabid bat-wing of the party. I disagree with the notion that ICE is engaging in "cruel" tactics. In fact, I think they've been remarkably restrained. If someone blows an air-horn in my ear, they will not have teeth. I'm 75, or it would be worse, as they could probably outrun me.
Ruy, the problem is that the rational democrat leadership has left the building. A three party affair (in which one party is composed of Kennedy democrats another is composed of the kamikaze who now run the democrat party and the third is composed of those who aren’t lemmings) will keep conservatives in the drivers seat. That may not be your preference but right now it’s the only one that makes sense.
Texeira again nails it. More like a 95-5 than 80-20 issue, and a harbinger to a less than overwhelming midterm resurgence for the Democratuc Party if they can't, or won't, change their tune before then.
Dems keep insisting they object to ICE tactics. That is a red herring. They object to 90% of US Immigration Law. Dems desperately desire all current and future non violent immigrants remain in the US permanently. No questions asked.
Dems demand an end to interior enforcement, not out of beneficence, but because without immigrants, Dems would soon be the permanent US House minority. That is likely a precursor to Whig status.
Nor does the game plan probably end with killing Interior Enforcement. Killing the filibuster and granting mass amnesty, that includes citizenship, is the Dem football crossing the end zone. 2028 may be their last, best chance.
Dems have no choice. Americans have voted with their feet en mass. And they keep moving from Blue States to Red States. Nor does a reverse seem likely.
Mamdani's plans for control of NYC housing stock, free child care and free public buses has "TIMBER" written all over it. Just as the number of Texas finance workers surpasses NYC, and the Lone Star State starts a new Stock Exchange.
In CA, the State budget is probably past redemption. CA spent $100 billion, around the year 2000, with a population of 34 million. This year the budget is a staggering $349 billion with a population under 40 million. In 25 years, spending increased 3.5X, while the population grew 20%.
At the current rate, by 2050 CA will spend far more than $1 trillion dollars a year to govern 48 million people. Those numbers do not include more than $1 trillion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. The hole is so deep, Billionaires realizing they are the only life boat left, are astutely beginning to flee.
The CA budget has exploded for the same reason NYC housing now requires vast more subsidy. Millions of American taxpayers that utilized few government subsidies, have fled. To the extent they were replaced, it was by those with far less income and far more need of all types of government support.
IL and Minnesota are just as undesirable. Parts of Minneapolis have yet to burst into flame for the 2nd time in 7 years, but the day is still young. All before we get to the massive public fraud likely to be revealed over the next 3 years, because someone is finally interested in ending it.
For the Dem Party, the next few years are 4th and long. Negating immigration law is their Hail Mary.
My favorite on the signs is "science is real." This from "progressives" who think that a man can become a woman by taking drugs and getting cosmetic surgery. LOL
It’s funny how often the “human kindness” folx are also completely unmoved by the Islamic regime massacring thousands of protesting Iranians, and practically excited about the kind of “Palestinian resistance” that involves raping, torturing, wounding, murdering and abducting thousands of Israeli civilians.
It really has zero to do with “kindness” or “no human is illegal” and everything to do with them being illiberal, hating democracy, hating the majority of Americans (and their allies) deeply, and wishing suffering and death on those masses.
I don't see any solutions on the horizon.
Two very powerful constituencies like things just as they are. 1. All businesses. The price of labor cuts into profits. Even industries that employ no illegal labor benefit in that there are many more legal employees at a much lower price. 2. The upper middle class who enjoy a servant class unimaginable in prior years. Cleaning house is no longer done. Likewise lawn mowing, and other yard chores. Most workers at restaurants and food delivery are sans social security numbers.
Elites run countries, they are the most intelligent, they control entertainment, academia, and the media. Elites run for office, own businesses, and pay politicians.
Already I hear screaming and crying that we need more mechanics, and construction workers and blah blah blah. They want trade school for something a non English speaker learn to do in 2 hours. Anything rather than pay well enough to entice Gen Z away from the game console.
I should kick back and hire a cleaning crew, my wife would consider me a hero.
I agree that calling on ICE to have a sense of proportion and restraint is what Democrats should support. Sorry, that's not going to happen. I live about 20 miles from all the craziness in the Twin Cities, and it's clear beyond all doubt that any aspiring Democratic politician here (and most everywhere else) has to be on board with Abolish ICE. They want no enforcement of immigration laws, period. If you enter the country you get to stay forever and receive public benefits immediately, and eventually citizenship and the right to vote.
All of this assumes that Democrats are not in favor of open borders. That this is a framing issue, not an actual substantive policy disagreement between the two parties.
I am not convinced that is true.
Unchecked illegal immigration helps Democrats bolster their population in deep blue cities which are experiencing organic population loss, thus increasing their representation in Congress.
I think this post is poorly thought out. The headline fact about the current politics of ICE is that it's well documented excessive tactics have driven Trump's immigration policy support into negative territory. When Mr. Teixeira writes, ". . . characterizations of ICE as a modern-day Gestapo, Nazis, an occupying force, etc have become so common as to be unremarkable," it is because this characterization feels to many who are *not* extreme progressives accurate. DHS and the Trump Administration have made a serious miscalculation because they believe that display of *cruelty* in this context will be effective political theater.
This is precisely the point where "Don't Be Cruel" can be an effective response. Mr. Teixeira is correct that this was not an effective policy theme for border issues in the past and will not be an effective policy theme for border issues in the future. But it is an effective theme in this moment.
When it comes to long-term policy I think Mr. Teixeira is on target, as was the proposed bipartisan bill that the Biden administration supported. But immigration policy debate is not the same as debate about ICE's conduct and the degree to which that conduct has become endemic within ICE. To ignore the fact that the tactics ICE detractors refer to as "modern-day Gestapo" conduct seems *intentionally* designed to appear as such is to ignore the essential political dynamics of this moment. I agree that "Abolish ICE" shares many features with "Abolish the Police," but the slogan does not seem to be hurting Democrats at the moment because the excesses of ICE are real and apparently intentional (note the widespread coverage of transparently white nationalist and Nazi themed PR coming from the DHS). The parallels with George Floyd -- one incident inciting a call to abolish the police -- are not strong: ICE's deployment in waves to specific cities and its theater and street tactics (which are *not* lawful in many regards, undermining the legitimacy of these "law enforcement officers") are repeated and, quite simply, frightening to people in its path. These are different experiential and political contexts and Mr. Teixeira, a well-respected political tactician, seems tone deaf in not recognizing that political tactics need to respond to this. (Having said this, I do think repeating the "abolish" theme is a second-order tactical error.)
I look to Mr. Teixeira to offer timely and insightful guidance to Liberal Patriots. I do not think he is doing that here.