MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When Donald Trump was running for president two years ago, Americans’ television screens were filled with images of migrant chaos.
asserted
screens → run → chaos
There were tent camps on both sides of the border, caravans of people trudging through Central America and concerns about newcomers overwhelming social services.
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newcomers → be → services
That turmoil faded as President Joe Biden tightened immigration enforcement after Trump clamped down even more.
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Trump → fade → enforcement
Now any chaos is on American streets, where violent and even deadly clashes have defined a deportation campaign that’s designed to fulfill hardliners’ goals of uprooting anyone in the country illegally.
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that → define → country
The shift helps explain why Trump’s effort to fulfill his promises has turned into a backlash, undermining one of the core issues that fueled his return to the White House.
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that → help → House
While Trump maintains some support for his handling of the border, polling shows voters disapprove of his approach to immigration, a striking turnaround that could undermine Republican attempts to maintain control of Congress in the midterms.
uncertain
that → maintain → midterms
“The American people supported strong border security,” said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who has become a prominent critic of the administration’s policies.
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who → support → policies
“What they got instead was shredding the Constitution, mass deportations and killing American citizens on the streets of Minneapolis.
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got → get → Minneapolis
Trump’s allies say the president is the victim of his own success.
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president → say → success
“The disaster at the border and the impunity of people just walking over and being released into the country was hard to ignore,” said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
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Krikorian → walk → Studies
Trump dramatically reduced illegal border crossings, Krikorian said, “and that’s often politically bad.”
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that → reduce → crossings
Krikorian praised Trump for adopting low profile but highly effective sweeps that have achieved month after month of record arrests.
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that → praise → arrests
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested almost 51,000 immigrants in the country illegally in August, according to the Department of Homeland Security, up from 49,000 in July and 43,000 in June.
uncertain
officers → arrest → June
An estimated 660,000 people have been deported in the past fiscal year, according to the Migration Policy Institute, short of the administration’s goal of 1 million annually.
uncertain
people → deport → million
Biden’s immigration policies remain a regular target for Republicans this year.
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policies → remain → Republicans
Trump said at a recent Florida rally that Democrats let migrants “pour across our borders from all over the world.”
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migrants → say → world
“If they win in the midterms, they’ll do it again,” he warned.
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he → win → it
Trump returned to White House with deportation pledge
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Trump → return → pledge
In 2024, Trump warned repeatedly of an immigrant “invasion.”
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Trump → warn → invasion
“They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” he said of people crossing the border illegally.
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he → poison → border
He insisted, falsely, that immigrants were behind spikes in crime and eating household pets.
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immigrants → insist → pets
Even as Trump drew criticism for his rhetoric, his focus on the issue resonated with voters who had seen illegal immigration soar during the Biden administration, with border arrests from Mexico reaching a record 250,000 in December 2023.
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arrests → draw → December
Trump’s victory seemed poised to reshape immigration politics.
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victory → poise → politics
Forty-six Democrats in the House and a dozen in the Senate joined Republicans in voting for the Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a Georgia student killed by a man in the country illegally.
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dozen → join → country
The law requires detention without bond for noncitizens accused of murder and other violent crimes.
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law → require → murder
After Trump took office, he cranked deportations into higher gear.
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he → take → gear
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, was one of the people caught up in that net.
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Garcia → catch → net
Despite a court order forbidding it, the administration sent him to his native El Salvador, where he was confined to that country’s notorious central prison that was also used to house other Trump deportees.
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that → forbid → deportees
The U.S. Supreme Court directed the administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return, and Van Hollen flew to El Salvador to meet with him.
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Hollen → direct → him
Some Democrats questioned the wisdom of confronting Trump on an issue where the president was so popular, the senator recalled.
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senator → question → issue
“We’ve gone from some of that sniping on the sidelines to a clear vote among Democrats to defund ICE,” Van Hollen said.
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Hollen → go → ICE
Minneapolis crackdown leads to backlash
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crackdown → lead → backlash
The early face of the Trump crackdown was top Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who swaggered through raids in tactical gear and deployed forces to Los Angeles and Chicago, where he led a helicopter raid on an apartment building.
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he → swagger → building
More than 2,000 federal officers were sent to the city, and scenes of masked agents spilling from convoys of unmarked vehicles became commonplace.
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scenes → send → vehicles
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets.
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thousands → take → streets
Two U.S. citizens — Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 — were killed during confrontations with agents.
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both → kill → agents
In the weeks that followed, the White House pushed aside Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
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House → follow → Bovino
Michael Pretti, Alex’s father, said this week that the family is still troubled by the bystander videos of the shooting.
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family → say → shooting
He had a holstered gun that he was legally allowed to carry, and none of the footage shows him brandishing the weapon or attacking federal agents in the moments before he was killed.
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he → have → moments
“I think it haunts many Americans to see a U.S. citizen who was peaceful and in his community shot multiple times on the back, in the back, while on the ground,” he told reporters.
asserted
he → think → reporters
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
