Trump and 'the most important issue': Immigration

Rather like studying Scripture, context is so important.

In 2015, having glided down that gold escalator in Trump Tower in New York to announce his first presidential bid, Donald Trump was not a minute into the speech when he delivered this broadside against immigrants: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems … They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

All that set the scene for his first-term immigration policies, such as the so-called Muslim Travel Ban which, faced with legal challenges, was rescinded by Trump six weeks later. There was the (very) partial building of the wall along parts of the US–Mexico border. And there was a controversial policy of separating some immigrant children from their parents at the Mexican border as they arrived.

Today, the anti-immigrant rhetoric is still there – for example, the claim (without evidence) that states are “emptying their gaols” and sending their worst criminals to the US. But Trump is bolder and may be better organised to execute his policies in his second term. His own Republican Party is also much more compliant than it was eight years ago. There have also been four years of the Biden administration during which the White House seemed to close its ears and eyes to the collapse of the immigration system and the chaos at the US–Mexico border. An asylum system that was meant for a small number of persecuted individuals was used by millions to gain legal entry.

In his first term, Trump had cut legal immigration by 37%. In his four years, Biden had increased it by over 58%^[1]! When the Republicans criticised Biden’s policy, liberals branded them as “heartless” and “racist”. Back when Biden was elected in 2020, 28% of Americans wanted to see immigration decrease. By 2024, it was 55%! Of the 12% of voters who said that immigration was the most important issue in the Trump–Harris campaign, 89% voted for Trump. It’s also worth remembering that the group of voters among whom Trump increased his share of the vote the most from 2020 to 2024 was that of Latino men – up from 36% to 55%. Even many legal immigrants resented Biden’s immigration policies and ‘open border’.

So, in his favour, Trump should be credited with addressing a policy that the Democrats failed on hopelessly during both the Obama and Biden years. If Democrats don’t like what Trump is doing, they need to ask themselves why they didn’t do better during the 12 years they controlled the White House (2009– 2017, 2021–2025). And President Trump can rightly claim that he has a mandate to deal with America’s immigration problems.

Dubious legality and inflammatory tone

On the other hand, there are at least two reasons why one might wish to be critical. First, too often, Trump attempts to execute his immigration policies in ways that are of dubious legality – with little regard for the Constitution, the courts, or for Congress. As I write, we see this happening with Trump’s deployment of California National Guard troops to Los Angeles against the wishes of the state governor, Gavin Newsom – an act of questionable legality and obvious provocation. Second, there’s the question of tone, which we mentioned earlier. Trump finds it well nigh impossible to discuss immigration without either using language that is inflammatory, or using ‘facts’ which are little more than a figment of his imagination.

And for those reading this who live in the UK, we need to remember that, of late, we haven’t done so well on immigration either, so some degree of humility is called for on such matters. True, we are not the covenant nation of God, as were the Old Testament Israelites, but, as Christians, we do have a duty to hear and take to heart God’s teaching in Leviticus 19 where we read: “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself” (Lev.19:34). This is not a manifesto for open borders, but it is a command for open and loving hearts. Would that President Trump and his supporters took that to heart too.

^{[1] Source: Migration Policy Institute}