You Don’t Compromise With Persecution— The GOP's Deportation Crisis Is About Math, Not Morality

Playing Footsie With Fascism Is A Losing Strategy For Democrats

Even right-wing Cuban-Americans in Miami are starting to get nervous

Yesterday, Madeleine Ngo reported on some of the damage the Republicans’ jihad against food stamps is going to do because of their Big Ugly Bill, starting with a death blow small grocers in rural counties that has supported the GOP. “Republican cuts to the federal food stamp program,” she wrote, “could put millions of people at risk of losing benefits, which would make it harder for them to afford groceries. But the changes could have further consequences, as the reductions squeeze small grocery stores that depend on those customers… [C]uts to the food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, could result in stores laying off workers, raising prices or shuttering entirely as their revenues drop. That has spurred concerns that the cuts could hit local economies and lead to the loss of grocery stores in rural counties that already have few food retailers.”

Only 5 Republicans voted against the Big Ugly Bill: Thomas Massie (KY) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) in the House plus Susan Collins (ME), Thom Tillis (NC) and Rand Paul in the Senate. The bill passed the House with a vote of 218-214 and the Senate with a 51-50 vote, JD Vance casting the tie-breaking vote in the Senate. The Republicans are now trying to contain the damage with, basically, lies, especially about Medicaid, but also about SNAP.

Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said the program was “never intended to be a windfall for food companies, retailers, and nonprofits,” but rather a “temporary safety net for families and communities in need.”

“Finally, President Trump’s policies are improving the economy and communities across the country,” Rollins said in a statement. “With those improvements come jobs, which will reduce dependence on government assistance, preserving it for those truly in need.”

… Some estimates have found that millions enrolled in the program, which provides monthly benefits to roughly 42 million people, could be affected by more stringent work requirements.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that changes to the work mandate would reduce participation in SNAP by more than three million people in an average month over the next decade, although that analysis is based on an earlier House version of the bill that included stricter work requirements for parents.

But taking food away from families isn't the only thing Republicans are doing that are pissing voters— including plenty of their own voters— off in a way that could endanger their viability at the polls next year. Racism and xenophobia have supporters, sure, but are they something a party can build an enduring majority on? It hasn't worked in the past.

There are 35 Jewish Members of the 119th Congress, 10 in the Senate and 25 in the House. The 10 Jewish senators are all Democrats and 21 of the 25 in the House are also Democrats. The only Jewish Republicans in Congress are Craig Goldman (TX), David Kustoff (TN), Max Miller (OH) and Randy Fine (FL). Imagine for a moment that Congress decided to pass legislation that disadvantaged Jews— not these 35 Jews, not wealth Jewish donors, not even American-born Jews, but other Jews. How do you think these 35 Jewish Members would react? Would they sit silently while their party’s base was whipped into a frenzy of hatred? Would they offer limp justifications about “security” or “order” as the machinery of government was turned against vulnerable people who share their heritage? Or would they feel a moral obligation— at least the Democrats, not just as Jews, but as human beings with a conscience— to speak out, to dissent, to draw a line? History has shown us what happens when people in power look away in moments like these. The question we need to look at now isn’t just what kind of leaders they are— but what kind of people. Why? Because there are around 50 Hispanic Members of Congress— 4 Democratic senators and 2 Republican senators plus 36 Democrats in the House and 8 Republicans there:

• Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26)

• Tony Gonzales (TX-23)

• Carlos Giménez (FL-28)

• Monica De La Cruz (TX-15)

• Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06)

• Gabe Evans (CO-08)

• Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11)

• David Valadao (CA-22)

Yesterday, Marianna Sotomayor reported that some of the Latino members are voicing worries that Señor TACO’s mass deportation campaign could be a bad political move for the GOP. Sotomayor wrote that the deportation agenda will “backfire with Latino voters, as they look for ways to protect some undocumented immigrants from deportation. These Republicans expressed fear that the inroads Trump and the GOP made with Latino voters in 2024 could erode because of what they see as a haphazard approach to mass deportations, which are starting to disrupt their communities and threaten local businesses. They are growing especially anxious about the push to arrest and deport migrants whose only crime is crossing the border illegally. ‘We’re all against criminals and gang members and those with deportation orders. But as this is starting to touch some folks who have known somebody who’s been here 20 years, more and more [people] are starting to see it, and there’s more and more response in the districts,’ Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R), who represents a predominantly Hispanic district in South Florida, said in an interview.”

The concern from Latino Republicans— along with some of their conservative colleagues— comes as the Trump administration, through White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, has directed immigration officials to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests daily.

Trump’s pledge to shut down the southern border and deport undocumented immigrants who committed violent crimes resonated with voters, including Hispanics with whom Republicans made solid gains in 2024. Latino GOP House members also supported cracking down on border crossings and deporting criminals.

But images of masked ICE agents arresting migrants at work or after attending their immigration court hearings have rattled communities. The Trump administration’s policy of sending some migrants to foreign countries where they are not citizens— including individuals who had entered the United States through asylum— has sparked fear and led some people to return home even though they have pending asylum claims.

… María Salazar (R), who represents a Miami district, is leading a legislative effort and appealing directly to Trump— whom she supports— for momentum. Her bill, called the Dignity Act, provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who entered the U.S. as children, otherwise known as DACA recipients, and creates a new protected status for undocumented immigrants who have worked in the U.S. for more than five years without a criminal record, among other things.

“President Trump, sir, the same God who saved you from death in Pennsylvania one year ago and who put you back in the Oval Office against all odds, is the same God Almighty who millions and millions are begging to for some type of dignity, not amnesty,” Salazar said as she introduced her bill. “The eyes of history are upon us. Some of the most shameful moments in our past as a country relate to how we have treated immigrants who are not criminals. And we are in one of those moments.”

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R), who has represented another Miami district for 22 years, said the administration should not be targeting undocumented immigrants who broke the law years ago but have since become law-abiding citizens who contribute to their community.

“Shouldn’t someone like that have an opportunity to earn being here?” he said.

At the same time, all Hispanic Republican House members supported Trump’s border security, energy and tax agenda— known as the One Big Beautiful Bill— which allots about $170 billion for immigration enforcement, including $75 billion in new funds for ICE. In January, they also approved the Laken Riley Act, which requires ICE to focus on detaining undocumented immigrants who have been arrested in or convicted of crimes including burglary, theft, assaulting a police officer or shoplifting.

Some point to the money for enforcement in that bill as the reason to start having a broader conversation about immigration.

Salazar’s legislation, reintroduced with Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), has about 20 bipartisan backers. It’s much narrower in scope than a previous version, but it allows undocumented immigrants who have been working in the U.S. for more than five years and have no criminal record to apply for “Dignity Status,” which must be renewed every seven years.

Such immigrants would have to pay a $7,000 fine, be barred from access to federal programs and have to contribute 1 percent of their salary to the U.S. Treasury, which lawmakers say would generate billions for the economy. Those in the program could travel between their home country and the United States.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said he and his team are also talking to the White House about reintroducing House Republicans’ immigration bill approved in the last Congress. The bill would severely restrict U.S. asylum laws, resume building a southern border wall, reestablish family detention and clamp down on the undocumented labor workforce, among other things.

… Lawmakers argue the time to deal with immigration is now, as the latest polling shows the public is paying attention and b laming Trump for mishandling deportations. A Wall Street Journal poll from last month found that 58 percent of respondents, including 60 percent of independents, disapproved of deporting immigrants without due process and sending migrants to countries with which they have no personal relationship.

Just over half of respondents, however, support Trump’s goal of removing undocumented immigrants, with 44 percent of Republicans thinking Trump has approached the matter “about right,” while another 44 percent believe he hasn’t gone far enough.

Finding a consensus approach to immigration remains a challenge as the president, administration officials and GOP lawmakers have fueled misconceptions about immigrants since Trump launchedbhis 2016 campaign. Republicans continue to fear any solution that could be labeled “amnesty.”

Asked about Salazar’s bill recently, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that from her understanding “neither the White House nor the president has actually read through this legislation” and that Trump “has made it very clear he will not support amnesty for illegal aliens in any way.”

Yet, supporters— including many Latino Republicans— are willing to challenge misconceptions.

“Anybody that tells me they’re a Reagan Republican, you at least have to have the conversation with me,” said Evans. “This is a tough but fair approach to be able to give some sort of path to legal status, not citizenship, legal work status for people like my grandfather, who, in many cases, are willing to bleed and die for their adopted country. Those are the people that we want.”

Gimenez said last month that “it was surprising” to see “how receptive” different corners of the House GOP are to discussions about preventing serious backlash from voters on immigration. But getting Trump and his MAGA base on board remains the toughest hurdle.

One of the things most striking about the GOP perspective here is how thoroughly the conversation among Republican lawmakers has been reduced to electoral math. Their communities are living through a moral and economic crisis: families torn apart, small businesses losing workers, entire neighborhoods plunged into fear and instability. But instead of mounting a full-throated defense of basic human dignity— or even pointing out the economic idiocy of mass deportations in regions that depend on immigrant labor— they’re nervously tracking poll numbers and testing how far they can push back without offending Trump or the MAGA nativist base. Their concern isn’t that what’s happening is wrong— it’s that it might be bad optics. The result is a grotesque kind of triangulation, where the calculus isn’t about justice or sound policy, but about how much cruelty their districts can absorb before it becomes a liability.

If there were ever a moment for the Democratic Party to stop hedging, this is it. Too often, Democrats have tiptoed around immigration— parroting Republican talking points about “border security” and “orderly systems” while avoiding the blunt truth: the MAGA movement’s deportation agenda is rooted in racism and xenophobia, not governance. This is not a time for triangulation or chasing a mythical swing voter who wants just a slightly kinder version of Trumpism. It's a time for moral clarity. Democrats should be leading the national conversation with unapologetic conviction and calling out the human toll of mass deportations, defending the economic contributions of immigrants, and standing up for due process and basic decency. Anything less is political and moral failure. There is no middle ground worth standing on. Let’s not forget that 46 Democrats, joined every Republican to pass the racist Laken Riley Act, mostly conservatives like Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ), Angie Craig (New Dem-MN), Laura Gillen (New Dem-NY), Don Davis (Blue Dog-NV), Jared Moskowitz (New Dem-FL), Nikki Budzinski (New Dem-IL), Jared Golden (Blue Dog-ME), Marie Perez (Blue Dog-WA), Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX), April Delaney (New Dem-MD), Chris Pappas (New Dem-NH), John Mannion (New Dem-NY), Shomari Figures (New Dem-AL), Suhas Subramanyam (New dem-VA), Adam Gray (Blue Dog-CA), Susie Lee (New Dem-NV)…