'Pick our moments': Dems 'not taking the bait' in pending immigration battle with Trump

04 January

Democrats are contemplating a more nuanced strategy to opposing President-elect Donald Trump's immigration when he's officially sworn in as president later this month.

That's according to a recent Politico report in which several Democratic elected officials, strategists and pollsters weighed in on how to put together a targeted defense against Trump's most divisive policies over the next four years. Whereas "resistance" was the theme of Democrats' 2017 playbook, Democrats in 2025 are now cold to the idea of blanket opposition and are instead contemplating how to best time their attacks against the incoming administration when it comes to his proposed mass deportations and potential separation of immigrant families.

"Democrats have been very good right now about not taking the bait and not letting him set the agenda," Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told Politico. "I think this year, it’s more, ‘we’re going to be calm. We’re going to be looking for places to work together. We’re going to pick our moments, and we’re going to try to shape not just opposition, but try to shape alternatives."

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), who represents a swing district that flipped between parties in the last consecutive elections, urged his colleagues to not shy away from working with the incoming administration when it comes to immigration policies that voters on both sides support. He said that while Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be opposed if it attempts to separate families over low-level offenses, it also makes sense to work with immigration enforcement in certain instances.

"President-elect Trump is talking about deporting criminals. We should be for that. Everybody should be for that. And I think that the incoming administration should really be working with Democrats that want to work on this. I’d be willing to work with them," Suozzi said. "But there are going to be problems that arise."

Trump border czar Tom Homan has pledged to build "the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen" and has threatened to jail Democratic mayors who stymie his efforts to deport residents of their cities (Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker has questioned Homan's authority to do this). Immigration advocate Beatriz Lopez, who is the executive director of the group Immigration Hub, is calling on Democratic donors to support candidates who not only oppose Trump's immigration plans but to also back those who offer productive solutions.

“The takeaway shouldn’t be that we should be moving to the right on immigration, or trying to out toughen Trump on immigration,” Lopez said. “People just need to hear from Democrats on this pragmatic vision, and not only do they have to say it, they have to put money behind it.”

Click here to read Politico's report in full.

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