Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics are backfiring on Republicans

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Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics are backfiring on Republicans

The dam of Republican acquiescence to the Trump administration’s over-the-top immigrant deportation policy has begun to break.

The deaths of two Minneapolis protesters have galvanized lawmakers and broken their trance of fear of the president. Criticism of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics has extended beyond long-time Trump skeptic Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and lame-duck Sen. Thomas Tillis (R-N.C.) to include other moderates such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and deeply conservative Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). That Lawler is facing re-election this fall is no coincidence.

But a real break from Trump’s border control and deportation policies will only come with serious consideration and endorsement of proposals for policy change that deal with the estimated 13 million undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.

A key test will be whether legislation dubbed the Dignity Act gains traction in Congress. It’s both a creative and constructive proposal with one disappointing flaw — its disdain for a “path to citizenship” even for those who jump through a difficult series of hoops to gain legal status.

Drafted by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), it overlaps in some familiar ways with Trump’s policies, backing a built-out border wall and an increase in the number of Border Patrol agents. But it also proposes technological enforcement innovations such as the use of “biometric samples” to check on individual criminal histories, and an Immigration Infrastructure Fund that would provide assistance for border communities.

Furthermore, the act breaks ranks with the hardline anti-immigrant views of domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller by mapping routes for legal status for illegal immigrants and their children currently in the U.S. The Dignity Act’s core idea is that the prospect of permanent legal status for the undocumented should be possible, if they complete a series of steps over a seven-year period and can demonstrate they’ve already been in the country at least five years.

Although a lengthy process, it nonetheless represents compromise on how to deal with undocumented immigrants, by offering more than just border control and deportation. In other words, it’s the sort of compromise the issue demands — and as such, it has attracted Democratic co-sponsors Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.).

Requirements range from “restitution” to ongoing employment. Individuals seeking such status would have to pay $5,000 over a seven-year period and report regularly to the Department of Homeland Security. They’d have to pay taxes and pay for their own health coverage, not be supported by any government “benefits or entitlement programs,” and “remain in good public standing.” Required, as well, is learning “English and US civics” and to “contribute to their community, including through volunteer work.”

There was a time when we were unabashed about calling this assimilation or Americanization — the Dignity Act dares to rediscover this.

The bill breaks from Trump policies in another key way: by putting part of the onus on those hiring illegal immigrants. The proposal would require employers to use the so-called E-Verify system, a national database of those legally authorized to work in the country. It has been historically criticized by civil libertarians who have complained about potential inaccuracies since it began as a voluntary program as part of the Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. But technology has improved since then, to put it mildly.

The constructive common sense of most of the Dignity Act makes it hard to understand, then, why the bill and its supporters fail to include a path to citizenship. It’s hard to view as desirable the prospect of millions of legal, permanent residents not having the chance to become citizens.

Currently, they would, per the Constitution, continue to be counted in the Census for purposes of determining population and the number of each state’s congressional seats. But those with permanent legal residency cannot vote — meaning their members of Congress could safely ignore their concerns.

Why would we want a permanent class of residents in a sort of limbo status as to whether they are Americans, or have the chance to be recognized as such? Notably, the same requirements found in the Dignity Act — to learn English and civics — are the requirements for passing the citizenship test.

To say that passing legislation of this kind would be a heavy lift is an understatement, of course. A not dissimilar (though more complex) “comprehensive” immigration reform bill sponsored by both Chuck Schumer and Marco Rubio passed the Senate in 2013 before failing in the House. Neither the Obama nor Biden administrations — nor, of course, the first Trump term — revived it. But the combination of dimming midterm prospects and Minneapolis blowback could plausibly lead to a Nixon-goes-to-China immigration moment for Trump. That can only come if more members of Congress continue to speak out for constructive change.

Howard Husock is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He served as an adviser for the Brookings Institution report “Breaking the Immigration Stalemate.”

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