Are Democrats taking Trump's bait on immigration?

Some think we must avoid a trap. I'm not convinced.

Cue the widespread worry that Democrats are falling into a trap intentionally set by Trump as it relates to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the immigrant who was illegally sent to a maximum security prison in El Salvador. From Axios:

The second House Democrat who spoke anonymously, a centrist, called the deportation issue a "soup du jour," arguing Trump is "setting a trap for the Democrats, and like usual we're falling for it."

"Rather than talking about the tariff policy and the economy ... the thing where his numbers are tanking, we're going to go take the bait for one hairdresser," they said, likely referring to Andry Hernandez Romero.

Only if Trump tries to deport U.S. citizens, the lawmaker argued, will Democrats need to draw a "line in the sand" and "shut down the House."

To be clear, I understand that Democrats’ worst issue is immigration. I understand why many would say that at a moment when Trump is quite literally destroying our economy - which, if 2024 showed us anything, is a major issue to exploit - we should be focusing on that.

First off, we should focus on that, and we do focus on that. I have heard discussion of the state of our economy from every corner of political media for weeks. I’ve heard discussion about the impact of Trump’s misguided tariffs on our stock market, our 401Ks, the cost of everyday goods. Just this week, Jerome Powell announced slower growth and higher inflation, which was the issue that killed the Democrats in the 2024 election. There’s no doubting the potency of the economy. We should and will continue to beat that drum on a daily basis.

However.

Talking about the economy and talking about immigration are not mutually exclusive. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. And I refuse to believe that Trump disappearing legal residents is something that we should stay silent about just because Trump polls better on immigration. And look, I am all for the deportation of dangerous criminals. There is no evidence to suggest that Garcia is one. He was charged with nothing, afforded no due process, he’s cares for three children with disabilities, he’s a sheet metal worker, a union member, and the only justification for a now-moot 2019 finding by ICE that he was in MS-13 is that he wore Chicago Bulls hat. If rooting for a shitty team makes you a gang member, then my fellow Giants fans and I should probably gear up to relocate to El Salvador.

Again, I support the deportation of dangerous criminals. I too live in an American city. I too want my family to be safe. I too have the same fears that everyone else has with regard to crime. But disappearing someone with no due process is neither legitimate nor legal. We have a Constitution and a Fifth Amendment right affording you a trial. If there are gang members who are here illegally, we’re likely in agreement that those people should be deported— but we have to know they’re gang members. And the way to do that is by affording them due process, which Garcia was denied. Let’s be clear: that not an extreme position. Disappearing innocent people to foreign gulags is the extreme position.

But if the moral imperative to speak out wasn’t enough - which, it should be, but perhaps you’re still concerned about how this issue polls - then simply look at the polls. According to the latest YouGov survey, of all the issues in the political zeitgeist right now, “deporting immigrants without criminal convictions to El Salvador to be imprisoned, without letting them challenge the deportation in court” polls miserably, with 46% of Americans strongly opposing and 15% somewhat opposing. That’s nearly two-thirds of Americans who oppose in some fashion what this administration is doing. So again, even if the moral argument isn’t enough, the political argument is sound: disappearing innocent people to a foreign gulag with no due process isn’t something that Americans support.

But there’s one more reason that we can’t shy away from this issue: if we don’t speak up now, we embolden Trump to go after everyone. The reality is that while this administration promised that it was only interested in going after hardened undocumented criminals, they’ve already undermined their own promise by going after a guy who was charged with no crime and is a legal resident. In fact, just this week, it was reported that US citizens are being detained. This is a pattern for Trump– if you allow him an inch, he will take a mile. If one law firm capitulates, Trump realizes how easy it is and he goes after a dozen more. If one university (like Columbia) capitulates, Trump goes after more. If one tech billionaire (like Bezos or Zuckerberg) capitulates, he goes after more. If one media company (like ABC News) capitulates, he goes after more. If we do not stand up and fight him now, when he’s only gone after one legal resident who wasn’t charged with a crime, then we don’t get to act surprised when he goes after other legal residents and, ultimately, American citizens. We’ve seen the playbook. We have to fight back right now— while there’s still an opportunity to fight.