Will Trump Go for Bold New Immigration Initiative?

Jan. 28—Those people who are close to President Donald Trump know that he is capable of making policy shifts on a dime when he senses the need to do so. And the 78-year old Donald Trump, who some stupid people wishfully think may have lost some of his fastball, is still the best instinctive political leader to come down the pike in some time; perhaps no one since Franklin D. Roosevelt has had the ability to sense trends in public thinking and then act on them quickly.

Donald Trump went to battle to get control of what some people call the “immigration” problem because that is what he thought the people had elected him to do. So, he militarized the southern border and invested manpower and money completing his wall, and then, with rigorous enforcement policies led by his border czar Tom Holman, shut down the torrent of “illegals” crossing into the U.S. to a trickle — to a point where he could proclaim late last year that it had stopped entirely.

On this Donald Trump believed correctly that the majority of the American people supported this effort, and although there were often some innocent victims of the over‑aggressive enforcement, that support did not and has not wavered.

Crackdown on “Criminal Illegals” Sparks Backlash

But Trump, and some of the outright racist zealots who surround him, miscalculated on the question of what to do with the tens of millions of immigrants who are living among Americans throughout the country, especially in our cities. Here, Americans really either do not care or actually get along fine with these illegals — unless they are violent and are criminals. So, Trump and that racist coterie within the MAGA camp and in the government claimed that they were going after the criminal illegals who are “taking over our cities,” terming these people “scum” and “animals,” or something less than human. And he deployed the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, dressed in combat fatigues and flak jackets and armed to the teeth, to seize the criminals for deportation.

For all the stories Trump’s people circulated about the “worst of the worst,” these murderous thugs whom ICE was supposedly rounding up to be deported, the deployed ICE agents seen on the internet using force — often excessive and almost deadly — on unarmed people, pushing around women and children in the way, revealed what many people started calling “Trump’s Police State” in action. Trump supported the actions of what the internet and opponents labelled "Trump’s Gestapo," saying they were rooting out "dangerous criminals."

You can say that they are clearing out criminals, and that may even be true, but the pictures of ICE in action were raising alarm bells for most Americans, even Republicans in Trump’s base. They wanted to secure borders, but they were not looking for urban warfare, with people being dragged out of their beds, and as the videos showed, with ICE often applying force to the wrong people — even some American citizens.

Minneapolis Killings Trigger National Outcry

This all exploded in the last two weeks in ICE’s targeting of the "worst of the worst" in Minneapolis, a city in a state run by “liberal Democrats” who were soft on crime, according to Trump. Many law enforcement experts, including former cops, questioned the ability of ICE to function in urban areas, where people might rise in protest of their excesses. They have now faced such protests, whether they be organized, as Trump claimed, by “troublemakers and professional agitators,” and as a result, two American citizens are dead, killed by ICE agents — Rachel Good, a mother of three who was shot in her car, and the most recent victim, Alex Pretti, an ICU worker who was legally armed and who never went for his weapon, but was beaten to the ground and then shot to death. People who knew him said that he was there to observe ICE activities firsthand and was not confronting anyone.

The ICE director, Dan Bovino, who was on site, immediately proclaimed that Pretti was seeking to "massacre" ICE agents, and that ludicrous claim was repeated by Trump’s overmatched Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who called Pretti, without evidence, “a domestic terrorist,” as did the highly influential White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who supports the removal of all illegal “aliens” from the country.

Trump Reverses Course as Public Sentiment Shifts

Trump and his top people, including his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, watched this unfold on television, following the news coverage, and sensed the buildup of public sentiment against ICE and Trump’s “tough” policy on immigration.

So, Trump pivoted. 

Sources report he is going to phase down the operation in Minnesota, and he pulled out Bovino and closed down his social media accounts. He sat down with Noem, and for the time being she will stay, but she has been muzzled. And after denouncing Democratic Governor Tim Walz (who ran for Vice President with Kamala Harris) and Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis for agitating against ICE, he sent in Border Czar Holman to meet with them to seek common ground. Trump proclaimed that the discussions were "going well."

And this afternoon, the President announced that he has demanded a full investigation to get to the bottom of what happened in both killings of American citizens by ICE, saying that he will not tolerate mistakes in carrying out his policies.

Political Stakes Rise as ICE Becomes a Liability

But sources in the White House have said that Trump will have to do more than that to avoid suffering political consequences from the ICE outrage. Trump realizes that this could be enough to cost the GOP the midterm elections, as the conduct of ICE has risen to the top of voter concerns, according to Trump’s own polling.

When the issue of immigration came up in the policy confabs that took place during the transition in 2024, there was widespread support for getting control of the border, only tepid support for ICE activities — and that only if they targeted violent criminals. 

But there were some people who told Trump that he needed to accept that most Americans are okay with the peaceful immigrants, whether they are here legally or not. They suggested that Trump do something to actually solve the crisis by creating a pathway toward citizenship for the millions of illegals who are part of America’s economy and culture. Trump was told to offer a fee‑driven program that provides this pathway and then fight in the name of fairness for it, and he would get the support of the various ethnic communities and even help in his efforts to purge them of criminal elements and drug gangs. Trump did not reject the concept or idea, but reportedly said that the time was not ripe for it.

A Possible Amnesty Plan and New Security Concerns

Sources close to the White House say that Trump wants such a plan revisited now. If he chooses to make such a plan happen, then Trump will once again prove himself that unique political animal who turns adversity into progress and support. Trump’s people are reportedly waiting to be deployed to go out and test the waters for such an amnesty plan.

“Stranger things have happened,” said the source. “Especially with this unpredictable President.”

Another concern for the President: security sources say that the ICE killings have ramped up the cover that could be needed for an assassination attempt on Trump. Sources report that there have been numerous postings on the internet calling for Trump’s assassination as a response to the events in Minnesota. Today, the FBI arrested a librarian in West Virginia for soliciting someone to kill the President.