Immigration War Turns Violent

If only Congress had heeded U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan's (D-Texas) immigration recommendations, the ugliness and anxiety that now center on Immigration and Customs Enforcement would not have happened. Instead of an illegal immigrant population of 15-20 million post-Joe Biden, Jordan's improvements would have dramatically lowered the total—not to zero, but to a manageable number in the country's major cities.

Immigration laws have gone unenforced for 60 years, and Congress's only immigration action during that period has been to pass amnesties or sign bills that facilitate and encourage more foreign nationals to enter the U.S. with or without authorization.

The six decades of immigration expansion included, but were not limited to, the comprehensive Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986, which legalized aliens who had unlawfully resided in the U.S. since January 1, 1982, granted amnesties to Nicaraguans and other Central Americans, welcomed more refugees and asylees, increased American job-killing H-1B visas, and expanded the list of nations that qualify for Temporary Protected Status. A subversion of immigration law also added DACA and Optional Practical Training—employment programs that were never congressionally approved. Therefore, when an enforcement advocate like Donald Trump arrives in the White House and surrounds himself with like-minded enforcement allies, pushback from well-funded ideologues is inevitable.

In recent weeks, Americans have seen up close on their television screens the horrifying consequences of anti-ICE resistance. Rioters spat at, cursed, and threatened physical assault against federal agents. The unrest began on June 6 and cost Los Angeles $20 million for police overtime and vandalism repairs. Matt Szabo, the city's top budget analyst, said he expects the costs to rise—bad news for Mayor Karen Bass, who is facing diminishing re-election prospects and reeling from a nearly $1 billion budget deficit. Szabo attributes the red ink to overspending, increased civil lawsuit payouts, and lower-than-expected tax revenues as residents and businesses flee the City of Angels in droves.

The Los Angeles riots turned out to be merely protesters' opening act. At two California Glass House Farms locations in Camarillo and Carpinteria, operations run by the nation's largest cannabis growers, protesters hurled rocks—and one even appeared to fire a gun—at agents investigating a massive marijuana operation where they found 10 illegal alien juveniles, nine of whom were unaccompanied. In all, ICE made 360 arrests. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said, "So glad our law enforcement could rescue another child." Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said Thursday the facility was "under investigation for child labor violations."

The Democrat base not only demands more brazen activism but is literally calling for blood. One Democrat recalled suggesting that they [Congress] should be "willing to get shot" while visiting ICE facilities. Other samplings: Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Cal.) said, "We are here to fight back." Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called on citizens to "fight" and declared, "We will rise up." Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) yelled, "We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a--es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain't it." Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who pleaded not guilty to charges she assaulted federal law enforcement officials during an oversight visit to an immigration detention center in May, added: "God d---it shut down the Senate!...WE ARE AT WAR!" House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called for Democrats to fight "in the streets."

Jordan would shake her head in dismay over the violent immigration divide. When President Bill Clinton appointed Jordan, a black Democrat, to head the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, she recommended that total immigration be cut by one-third to approximately 550,000 per year. The commission supported increasing enforcement against illegal aliens and their employers, eliminating visa preferences for siblings and adult children of U.S. citizens, and ending unskilled immigration except for refugees and nuclear families. In her immigration reform vision, Jordan said, “Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave.”

In 1996, at age 59, Jordan died from leukemia complications. Without Jordan's moral commitment and her insistence that Congress, in the national interest, must restrict immigration, her proposed reforms faltered. Susan Martin, the Jordan Commission's staff director, said, "I see the period of 1996 and beyond as a big failure because by then it was clear where we had to go. But Congress didn't do much to get there."

Martin's comment, viewed in retrospect, is a gross understatement. Not only didn't Congress do much to secure the border or the interior, it increased legal immigration through legislation or administrative action. As a result, the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey shows that the total foreign-born or legal and illegal immigrant population was 49.5 million in October 2023 — a 4.5 million increase since President Biden took office and a new record high. At 15 percent, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population is also the highest in American history. If demographics is destiny, the future for American sovereignty is bleak.

Joe Guzzardi is an Institute for Sound Public Policy analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org