Trump’s message to ‘nice’ Americans: You’re all illegal now
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On Thanksgiving evening, as Americans offered grace for their blessings and feasted with loved ones, President Trump’s contribution to the country’s dinner table was the digital equivalent of a flaming turd pie.
On social media, he published a screed that drew from his tried-and-true playbook — personal insults against political enemies, slanders against immigrants, oscillating between calling his opponents “nice” and “STUPID.”
This time, though, Trump went lower and nastier than he has ever gone before — no, really.
Freely switching between “refugee,” “foreign national,” “migrant” and “illegal,” he declared immigration “the leading cause of social dysfunction in America” and insisted that “only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”
That’s an idea the farthest fringes of the American right have preached going back to the days of slavery, when some wanted freed Black people sent back to Africa, lest they poison democracy. In recent years, it’s been proposed by so-called Heritage Americans who insist the United States rightfully — and only — belongs to folks whose ancestors were roughing it on the frontier back in the days when passenger pigeons blotted out the sun.
The Heritage American movement maintains that those Americans whose ancestors have been here for generations are more deserving of this nation’s riches than those of us whose families came over within living memory.
But don’t sit too comfy if you can trace your family back to William Bradford. Trump also wrote that he wants a “major reduction” in “disruptive populations” — “anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country ... or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”
What ostensibly sparked all this vitriol was the Nov. 26 shooting of two National Guard troops near the White House that left one dead and another in critical condition. The suspect is an Afghan national granted asylum for helping the American military.
But who is anyone kidding?
Demonizing, detainment, detention, deportation — this is what Trump has gleefully pursued against undocumented immigrants from the start of his second term. But it was never just about the “worst of the worst,” as the dozens of American citizens rounded up in his indiscriminate raids can attest. It was always about anyone who wasn’t white.
It was always about anyone who stood in Trump’s way.
It’s why Trump wants to send in the military at the slightest protest against his policies, why he called Democratic lawmakers “traitors” for daring to remind military members that they swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and not illegal commands by rogue leaders.
Trump is using the deadly attack on the National Guard troops as cover not just to halt all asylum applications but also to propose booting from this country anyone who isn’t 100% with him — even if you’re a citizen or a legal resident.
In other words, we “nice” Americans are now all illegal to Team Trump. If you dare show decency or even tolerance to people without papers, you want to “destroy everything that America stands for,” and “you won’t be here for long!” per the president. Not even your passport or your birth certificate will save you if he carries through on that squalid Thanksgiving message.
His declaration of deportation comes at a politically perilous time. Xenophobia has been the rocket fuel of Trump’s political career, delivering him presidential victories in 2016 and 2024. Too many American voters needed a scapegoat for the malaise that has set upon this land, and he found it by lambasting immigrants in an increasingly multicultural America.
Trump may have succeeded in terrorizing millions of people with his deportation deluge and causing a decrease in the number of immigrants in the U.S. for the first time since the 1960s — but his obsession might be costing him supporters when he’ll soon need all of their votes to keep Congress under his command.
A Gallup poll released Friday showed that even Republicans are tiring of Trump — while 84% of them approve of his performance, that’s 7 points lower than in January. And while 92% gave him a thumbs-up on immigration back then, now 83% do — still a supermajority but one that’s sliding downward.
A CBS News/YouGov poll found that 53% of Americans feel immigration enforcement has been “too tough,” and 58% feel agents shouldn’t wear masks while grabbing people.
Turns out Americans aren’t as “STUPID” as Trump believes. But like a gambler who’s already lost everything at Texas hold ‘em, Team Trump isn’t wise enough to walk away from the deportation table — they’re doubling down on their one, tired hand.
One shudders to think what Border Patrol sector chief Gregory Bovino thinks is excessive for la migra. With his powers now radically expanded, we’re about to find out.
Stephen Miller, the Homeland Security advisor and immigration Iago, peppered his sulfurous social media stream in the wake of the National Guard D.C. attack with photos of Afghan nationals who were legally admitted to this country and stand accused of crimes. So did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who has continually railed against an immigrant “invasion” while her own nephew’s mother sits in an immigration detention facility in Louisiana.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is amplifying Trump. “The stakes have never been higher, and the goal has never been more clear: Remigration now,” stated one post on X over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The white-power cat is out of the bag — again. As Trump builds a surveillance state worthy of the Eye of Sauron, who feels safe about pushing back? How many Trump supporters will take his praise of remigration as a license to be bigoted?
As the economy continues to tank and ICE launches more cruel raids, Trump will only escalate his rhetoric — if we’re lucky. But if there’s a silver lining, it’s that more Americans might adopt the mindset of someone who’s “illegal.”
To live under a regime that wants you disappeared is no fun. As someone whose elders used to be undocumented and who grew up in a world where la migra loomed over too many loved ones like the sword of Damocles, I wish that status on no one.
But I’ve always stood in awe of the resilience and resourcefulness of those who live under that threat. It’s their spirit and pluck — not the eternal whine of Trumpworld — that reminds me why this country and its principles are worth defending, as bad as the times may be. Being a de facto enemy of the state quickly teaches you where it is safe to be yourself, who your allies are, when to lie low — and when to fight back.
The time is now.
Welcome to being illegal, “nice” Americans. Good to have you here. Let’s talk.
Insights
L.A. Times Insights delivers AI-generated analysis on Voices content to offer all points of view. Insights does not appear on any news articles.
Viewpoint
Perspectives
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.
Ideas expressed in the piece
The author contends that Trump’s call for “remigration” represents an extreme and racially motivated escalation in immigration policy that echoes historical atrocities, including proposals during slavery to deport freed Black people from the country[1]. According to this perspective, Trump’s deportation policies have consistently targeted individuals based on ethnicity rather than criminal history, with nearly three-quarters of immigrants in ICE detention having no criminal convictions, contradicting claims that enforcement focuses on dangerous individuals[1]. The author argues that these indiscriminate raids have devastated Trump’s support among Latino voters, whose favorability toward him plummeted from 45 percent in April to just 25 percent by October, and that even Republican Latinos have abandoned him, with support dropping from 83 percent in September 2024 to 66 percent more recently[1]. The perspective emphasizes that enforcement policies have created a climate of terror affecting not only undocumented immigrants but also American citizens and legal residents, while the administration escalates rhetoric and expands surveillance capabilities without constitutional constraint[2]. Furthermore, the author suggests that the administration is exploiting security incidents to justify authoritarian measures targeting anyone deemed insufficiently loyal, thereby transforming ordinary citizens into presumptive threats to government power.
Different views on the topic
Republicans have maintained that immigration enforcement and restrictions represent legitimate policy priorities supported by voters, with House Speaker Mike Johnson asserting that demographic gains the party achieved with Latino voters in 2024 will continue to hold[1]. Prior to implementing current policies, immigration restrictions had gained traction among some Latino voters who favored the GOP on issues including limited government and stricter border controls, suggesting that portions of the electorate viewed these positions favorably[1]. The Trump administration and Department of Homeland Security have defended enforcement actions as necessary governance, characterizing media coverage of death and injury incidents during raids as sensationalism rather than accurate representation of policy effects[2]. This perspective frames immigration enforcement as a standard executive function and appropriate response to national concerns, with officials maintaining that agents operate under federal immunity in conducting their duties[2].
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