The Dems Won’t Win by Abandoning Immigrant Rights

Following Donald Trump’s election, some Democratic political elites have retreated to a familiar fallacy to explain why they lost in November. Instead of engaging in the necessary introspection, these elites have taken to blaming social justice movements and immigrant justice advocates for their defeat. Their prescription for the future, however, is as misguided as their core argument.

They contend that in order to win on immigration, Democrats must continue to tack to the right, turn their backs on advocates, and revert to the elusive pursuit of “comprehensive immigration reform”—a phrase lacking meaning to most voters and a strategy that insulated them for decades from political attacks, but failed to advance any meaningful policy that serves the interests of immigrants or the nation.

With their scolding and posturing, these self-described “pragmatists” are—perhaps unwittingly—mimicking the far-right’s well-worn playbook of scapegoating marginalized people to evade responsibility for doing the difficult work of charting a courageous and visionary path forward—one that serves and wins back the support of working families and other constituents that have abandoned the party.

What would the world look like now if abolitionists listened to so-called “pragmatists” of the time and compromised on their vision by working toward slavery “reforms” or better conditions for those who were enslaved?

In the lead up to the 2024 election, the Republican Party—led by Trump and propped up by conservative media—filled the airwaves with dangerous lies and misinformation. Voters consistently heard that immigrants, trans kids, and “woke-[insert any noun here]” were to blame for all of society’s ills and their economic hardships, and that Trump would lower the price of their groceries (a promise that he has already started to walk back before he even takes office).

For their part, Democratic Party leadership shifted rightward on immigration and failed to articulate how they would address the needs of working families. Rather than counter Trump’s scapegoating and present a bold alternative vision for a system that is hopelessly broken and outdated, candidates echoed right-wing talking points and focused on promoting cruel border policies.

Embracing and advancing an anti-immigrant narrative also meant that voters didn’t hear from either party about the outsized role that immigrants, including newly arrived immigrants, play in solving some of the very problems they are unfairly blamed for—whether it is challenges with housing supply, the overall economy, or their vital role in the workforce.

A recent report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that refugees and asylees contributed an estimated $581 billion in revenue to federal, state, and local governments over a 15-year period, including an estimated $363 billion to the federal government through payroll, income, and other taxes.

Building new housing is also nearly impossible without immigrants, as one-third of homebuilders are foreign-born. And conservative estimates have found that a 10% reduction in asylum seekers in one year would result in an $8.9 billion loss to the U.S. economy and over $1.5 billion in lost tax revenue over five years.

While it is clear that Democrats’ failure to effectively counter Republicans’ attacks on immigrants hurt them in this election, it is also true that immigration ultimately was not the reason they lost. Exit polls show that in the lead-up to election day, the economy was the top priority for voters. And despite the extremely toxic anti-immigrant sentiment that prevailed over the elections, exit polls also show that voters still prefer that undocumented immigrants get the chance to apply for legal status (56% of voters), rather than be deported (only 40% supported this option).

The critics who have stepped up their attacks also fail to understand the role of social movements, which is to engage in the tireless pursuit of justice and bring about fundamental change. Wins that we now take for granted—including women’s right to vote, the abolishment of slavery, and basic worker protections, among many others—were all radical ideas at the time that were fueled by movements.

What would the world look like now if abolitionists listened to so-called “pragmatists” of the time and compromised on their vision by working toward slavery “reforms” or better conditions for those who were enslaved? Or if the civil rights movement had acquiesced to the demands of moderate Southerners urging them to both be patient and to tone down their demands to end segregation?

No social justice movement has ever won because they agreed to abandon their north star.

People in this country are hungry for courageous solutions that can materially improve all of our lives. It is up to all of us to work together to make progress feel not only possible, but inevitable.

And those of us who believe in the power of movements to bring about the cause of justice must never walk away from a vision for the future.