The 2026 midterm election results rebuked President Donald Trump’s failures on the economy and, in several competitive races, his immigration agenda.
asserted
results → rebuke → races
Latino voters who backed him in 2024 swung back to Democrats, helping deliver the politically unthinkable.
asserted
who → back → unthinkable
Texas elected its first Democratic senator since 1988 and its first Latina governor, while Democrats won governorships in all four southern border states and every southern border congressional district.
asserted
Democrats → elect → states
Over the last two years, Trump quieted the border but the backlash against his mass deportation campaign overshadowed that achievement, suggesting voters want a secure border without seeing the same aggressive enforcement tactics in their communities.
asserted
voters → quiet → communities
The party has been given a chance to persuade voters that it can offer a better alternative to Republicans on immigration.
asserted
it → give → immigration
If Democrats blow it, they may not get another one in 2028.
uncertain
they → blow → 2028
Trump is certainly not going to make it easy.
asserted
it → go → ?
He responded to his midterm losses by elevating Stephen Miller, the architect of mass deportations, to White House chief of staff.
asserted
He → respond → staff
Yet in an interview with Ross Douthat on 60 Minutes recorded before Miller’s appointment, Trump suggested he was open to an immigration deal with Democrats.
uncertain
he → record → Democrats
He walked those comments back a day later, saying there won’t be amnesty for undocumented immigrants and that his policy hasn’t changed.
asserted
policy → walk → immigrants
Rather than wait for the White House, Democrats should act now.
asserted
Democrats → wait → House
They can use their oversight power to slow down mass deportations and pass immigration legislation to put on his desk.
asserted
They → use → desk
On the defensive front, Congress is limited in what it can do to rein in mass deportations.
asserted
it → limit → deportations
The multi-year funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received in the last two years, more than $113 billion, cannot be taken away without new legislation and, absent a veto-proof majority, Trump’s signature.
asserted
Immigration → receive → majority
That being said, if they can collect a veto-proof majority, Congress should try to limit how that funding is used by passing new legislation.
asserted
funding → say → legislation
With the money and infrastructure already in place, oversight of ICE and the Border Patrol will be essential to exposing abuses, holding the administration accountable, and slowing them down.
asserted
administration → expose → them
But reining in ICE doesn’t eliminate the need for an affirmative vision.
asserted
reining → rein → vision
Democrats have to get organized and do both.
asserted
Democrats → have → both
Any Democratic plan needs to address the border.
asserted
plan → need → border
And the key to doing so lies in the hands of locally elected Democrats.
asserted
key → do → Democrats
Rather than waiting for the next Democratic president to do better on the issue, the four newly elected Democratic governors along the southern border have an opportunity to rebuild trust now.
asserted
governors → wait → trust
For decades, Washington has made border policy with too little input from the Americans forced to live with its consequences.
asserted
Washington → make → consequences
I grew up in one of these communities in southern New Mexico.
asserted
I → grow → Mexico
Lawmakers have ignored Border Patrol’s violent tactics and racial profiling against Latino border residents, failed to provide resources to help communities manage migration emergencies, and neglected Americans who live in colonias, underserved settlements that lack the basic necessities most Americans take for granted, from clean drinking water to functioning sewage systems.
asserted
Americans → ignore → systems
From my time working in Washington, I’ve watched policymakers with little understanding of the border region or its economy make decisions that leave residents paying the price through greater instability, higher costs, and disruptions to their daily lives.
asserted
that → work → lives
Now, with a fronteriza elected governor of Texas and Democratic leadership across all four southern border states, border communities have an opportunity to shape the policies that directly affect their lives.
asserted
that → elect → lives
The four governors should develop a border security compact that sets shared priorities for state-level border operations, economic development, asylum reform, and preparations for future migration emergencies, and then use that compact to press Congress and the administration for action.
asserted
that → develop → action
Working with federal officials and Mexico, the governors can make clear that Democrats will not tolerate chaos at the border while advancing a new system in which seeking humanitarian protection no longer requires relying on human smugglers to cross illegally into the United States.
asserted
seeking → work → States
The governors must also prepare for the possibility of another migration surge after Trump leaves office, regardless of who succeeds him, Democrat or Republican.
asserted
who → prepare → him
Four years of restrictive immigration policies and cruel enforcement could create pent-up demand for migration, and misinformation about whether the border will reopen will abound.
uncertain
border → create → migration
Border states should begin preparing now rather than waiting for another crisis.
asserted
states → begin → crisis
As Democrats move to constrain ICE and rebuild trust on the border, they must also respond to the voters who placed their “I Voted” stickers on the memorials of Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.
asserted
I → move → Good
Those tributes were reminders that millions of American citizens live alongside neighbors, coworkers, and loved ones who remain vulnerable to deportation because Congress has failed to give them a path to legal status.
asserted
Congress → live → status
Democrats should start strong in January and pass the American Dream and Promise Act, a House bill that creates a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship not only for Dreamers, but also for the hundreds of thousands of Temporary Protected Status holders who have lived and worked in the United States for years.
asserted
who → start → years
Doing so may require reaching across the aisle, either to build a veto-proof majority or to collaborate with Trump.
uncertain
Doing → do → Trump
Democrats should argue that legalizing undocumented immigrants who have had no chance to access legal status because of a civil immigration violation can be a solution to problems Americans experience every day, from the shortage of workers building new homes to the rising cost of child care.
asserted
Americans → argue → care
A functioning immigration system should bring in the workers communities need while providing a way for undocumented immigrants already doing those jobs to obtain legal status.
asserted
immigrants → function → status
These new legal pathways should reflect the needs of the economy, including visas for care workers and construction workers.
asserted
pathways → reflect → workers
Representative Gabe Vasquez of New Mexico has already demonstrated what this approach can look like.
asserted
approach → demonstrate → what
Months before winning reelection in a competitive border district, he introduced the Careworker Visa Act at a time when many Democrats were reluctant to discuss immigration.
asserted
Democrats → win → immigration
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
