Trump’s immigration juggernaut leaves Democrats scrambling for a coherent message of their own
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Analysis: Several Democrats backed Republicans to give the new president a big first win on immigration as their own party tries to forge its own narrative on the issue, writes Eric Garcia. President Donald Trump got his first major legislative win on Wednesday when the House passed the Laken Riley Act. The legislation requires that immigration authorities detain anyone who is arrested with theft, burglarly, larceny or other related crimes.
![[Trump has wasted little time in taking action on immigration]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/22/22/Mexico_US_Deportation_Preparation_26945.jpg)
Republicans moving immediately on immigration makes sense. Trump won largely because voters believed that immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border was out of control during the Biden administration. Kamala Harris famously laughed off a question early in the Biden presidency about why she had not been to the border. The president was even displaying a chart about the influx of migrants when he was shot and wounded in Butler, Pennsylvania in July.
![[Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats need to message that anti-immigrant measures will do nothing but increase the cost of living]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/11/27/21/GettyImages-2174514935.jpg)
On top of that, Trumpworld knows it only has a limited amount of time before voters potentially turn on the president for his actions on immigration if they come off too cruel. As a result, he’s signed a slew of executive actions on immigration. By the same token, Democrats still have yet to craft a winning message on immigration. On Trump’s first day in office, 12 Democratic senators joined Republicans to pass the legislation. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania’s decision to jump on should not surprise anyone since he has pivoted considerably to the center despite the fact his wife Gisele was at one point an immigrant. Nor should Georgia’s Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s votes come as a surprise since the bill’s namesake was killed in Georgia.
