Illegal immigration was a top concern of voters from both parties this year, but nobody seems to have told the Los Angeles City Council — or Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, either. Before I take you through the Democrats' latest effort at self-immolation, you've got to see just how angry Americans are about our southern border.
A Pew study this year fall showed that immigration was a "very important" concern for 82% of Donald Trump supporters, which comes as no surprise. But a solid 39% of Kamala Harris voters agreed. While the border was the second most important concern to Trump voters (after the economy), it was still in the top ten for our friends on the left.
Americans aren't just concerned about illegal immigration in some distant, drawing-room way. "Border debate shifts as Biden is confronted with anger — from Democrats," NBC News warned in 2023. CBS News raised the red flag in January, reporting that "Americans increasingly see border as crisis, call for tougher measures." Even the New York Times admitted (after the election, natch) that we're "fed up" over it.
Biden and Harris didn't listen. Biden was forced out and Harris lost. That's because a party that ignores a top concern of nearly 40% of its supporters is a party in trouble, and at least partly explains why Trump is the first Republican since 2004 to win the popular vote.
Is it possible that there are a few Democrats who said the border was "very important" because they don't believe Biden and Harris opened the border wide enough? Technically, I suppose there could be some small number of middle-aged progressive female TikTok influencers with recently shaved skulls who sincerely believe (when the Xanax isn't working) that not enough people from Burkina Faso snuck across. But it's safe to say they aren't a large enough constituency to bother catering to.
Which brings us back to the Democrat-dominated Los Angeles City Council:
The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday approved a so-called “sanctuary city” ordinance that bars city resources from being used for immigration enforcement and city departments from sharing information on people without legal status with federal immigration authorities, in anticipation of potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.
Mass deportation is one of Trump's signature issues this time around, just as much as "Build the wall!" was in 2016. Trump 45 ran into serious headwinds in Congress with the border wall, but Trump 47 can accomplish much more as the chief executive with deportations. Besides, building the wall after Biden and Harris let in untold millions is too much like closing the barn door after the horse escapes.
Around the nation, Democrats must be face-palming at the thought of being associated with the L.A. City Council.
In Arizona, Gov. Hobbs said this week that she will "will work with the (Trump) administration" on illegal immigration but only "when it benefits Arizonans," in her estimation. "If I need to stand up to them because their actions will harm Arizonans, I will do that."
I'll let my friend and Arizona native Stephen Kruiser correct me if I'm wrong, but if Hobbs is looking to revitalize her border state's GOP, refusing to work with Trump on deportations might do the trick.
All of this progressive intransigence speaks to a broader problem that Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) admitted to with refreshing honesty on X this week.
The far left—illustrated by the lonely long left tail in the graph below—has no overlap with a supermajority of Americans, who reject far-left policy positions on immigration and public safety.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 19, 2024
We can either pander to the lonely long left tail that gave us Donald Trump or we… pic.twitter.com/UxsXs18fUI
If that chart looks at all familiar — and the data behind it was supplied by the Financial Times — it's because you've probably already seen it in meme form.
None other than Elon Musk shared that meme a while back as he made his journey from "Democrat by default" to a wrecking ball against Big Government.
May the rest of the country quickly follow suit.
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