President Donald Trump won the White House in 2024 on a promise to expel just about every undocumented immigrant. Attendees at that year’s Republican National Convention waved signs emblazoned with “Mass Deportations Now!” logos. But ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the GOP’s message is changing.
The White House wants House Republicans to “stop emphasizing ‘mass deportations,’” said Axios. “Nearly half” of Americans say the Trump administration’s deportation campaign has been “too aggressive” following the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota. Perhaps more concerning to Republicans: One of every five voters who backed the president in 2024 agrees, according to a Politico poll from January. House members should “focus their messaging on removing violent criminals” going forward, said White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, per Axios. The “change in rhetoric” is coming as GOP “fears of election losses mount” as the midterms approach, said The Washington Post.
The administration “wants to rebrand its mass-deportation push,” Ed Kilgore said at New York magazine. Trump and his allies argued for widespread expulsions while also creating the impression “that virtually all its targets would be hardened criminals.” The problem? “All sorts of peaceable legal immigrants” have been swept up in ICE roundups, including health care personnel, farm workers and innocent U.S. citizens. Trump’s challenge now is that backing down on mass deportations “could discourage the MAGA base.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Latest Videos From
Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “turned a popular issue” for Republicans “into a PR nightmare,” Caroline Downey said at National Review. Her “aggressive and expansive approach” to deportations is “consistent” with Trump’s desires, but an approach focused on criminal migrants is “more politically prudent.” Americans “have ambivalence about deportation,” said Ramesh Ponnuru at National Review. Even Fox News polls show a majority of Americans think ICE has been too aggressive. Conservatives may wish otherwise, but Americans “don’t seem to believe they’re getting what they want” from Trump on immigration.
Trump “knows he’s losing on immigration,” Zeeshan Aleem said at MS Now. But efforts to rebrand his deportation push are “doomed” because the president’s political persona is “predicated on a sweeping nativism.” He has never merely targeted “worst of the worst” criminals but instead has used expulsions to “restrict and reshape American identity.” That makes it “implausible” that Trump could convince the public he is shifting on the issue. Deportations may be unpopular, but “that doesn’t mean a leopard can change its spots.”
What next?
Trump’s MAGA allies are “furious” about the administration’s deportation rebranding, said Politico, asserting that narrowing the focus to criminal migrants is “not a winning policy.” The administration “has a mandate on mass deportations,” said Chris Chmielenski, the president of the Immigration Accountability Project. Trump voters “expect” to see mass expulsions. White House officials are trying to strike a balance. “Nobody is changing” the deportation agenda, said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson in a statement.
