It’s not immigrants, it’s unchecked, undocumented, unvetted immigration that most people (including a majority of immigrants) are opposed to.

Some polls state otherwise, with many pointing to disillusionment with the methods and likely incarceration and deportation of immigrants that were potentially targeted improperly by the administration as a way to appear tough on immigration to achieve their goals. The net-net of these actions will leave the economy weaker and cause a net loss of population earlier than expected according to the CBO.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigratio...

https://www.axios.com/2025/09/10/trump-ice-big-beautiful-bil...

https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/docume...

I think rhetoric around immigration is functionally a Motte and Bailey game. Many of our most productive immigrants play visa games, overstaying, working on non-working visas, etc. in fact it takes a sort of grit, daring, and entrepreneurship to play fast and loose with bloated inefficient government regulation (such as our immigration system). It is obviously easy to declare “well, my intentions were to always target just the worst ideal of immigrant” while ignoring the reality of how much immigrants— yes, even the unchecked, undocumented, unvetted ones— benefit the country as a whole…

Do you feel that the arrests at the Hyundai plant effectively countered unchecked, unvetted immigration?

That was the PR line used to trick immigrants into initially supporting the cause, it's become pretty obvious with the sheer glee on social media over all immigrants being harassed and open questioning of the immigration status of anyone they don't like (see: NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani), that it's actually just about not liking anyone who doesn't look like themselves.

Perhaps, but a lot of the recent immigration enforcement pushes haven't been about fully undocumented immigrants.

If it were this, we'd be doing everything possible to make the process of legal immigration less capricious. Instead we're rounding up anyone who looks foreign or speaks with an accent, ignoring even if they're here legally or following the process.

At least be honest with yourself about what's happening in front of your eyes.

Well, that's not what we have today. ICE making so many arrests at immigration court for people who showed up after they pressure the judges to dismiss the case. People with papers, married parents, and people who have been here decades are being grabbed because they are easy to get for the current administration.

[dead]