A draconian MAGA policy 'made life much harder' for these Trump voters — here’s how

10 March

MAGA hat. James McNellis/Wikimedia commons

President Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican allies often accuse Democrats of favoring an "open borders" policy. But in fact, there were plenty of deportations of undocumented immigrants under Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

And many Democrats are saying that while they are all for border security and enforcing the United States' immigration laws, they strongly disagree with the way Trump is carrying out mass deportations.

The same arguments are being made by Never Trump conservatives, some of whom are pointing out that President Ronald Reagan was very pro-immigration and saw immigrants as vital to the future of the Republican Party.

In an op-ed/essay published by the New York Times on March 10, journalist/author Megan K. Stack details ways in which Trump's mass deportations have "made life much harder" for legal immigrants — including those who are now U.S. citizens and voted for Trump in 2024.

Stack cites Mexican immigrant Eldair Mata as a prime example. Based in Chicago, Mata voted for Trump in 2024 and has been in the U.S. since 1993.

Stack writes, "Even Mr. Mata, a citizen, now avoids going out, carries a photo of his passport in case he gets questioned and frets over his siblings, both of whom are undocumented immigrants."

Stack notes that Mata, however, doesn't blame, Trump but rather, blames Democratic sanctuary city policies.

"In Chicago’s most heavily Latino wards," Stack observes, "27 percent to 41 percent of the voters chose Mr. Trump. If this seems confusing, it's worth remembering that in Chicago, and the rest of the country, a vast underclass of law-abiding, taxpaying, undocumented immigrants shore up the economy while muddling along without work authorization, Social Security and other advantages. More than half of Illinois' undocumented immigrants have been here 15 years or more."

Stack adds, "Chicago’s business owners — a not-insignificant number of whom are immigrants themselves — admit they rely on undocumented labor…. Given how badly we need workers, it’s hard to understand why we talk about deportations rather than amnesty or pathways to citizenship."

Read Megan K. Stack's full New York Times op-ed/essay at this link (subscription required).

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