Immigration Reform Part 1: Necessary and Possible

The immigration issues facing the United States are vast. President Donald Trump might be the only president since Ronald Reagan with both the opportunity and the political will to tackle them thoroughly. However, achieving this will require something rare in today's political climate: both sides of the aisle opening their eyes and reaching a compromise to develop a comprehensive immigration plan.

Trump is not a traditional conservative. Nor is he a doctrinaire populist. He is a pragmatist, a president whose instinct is to solve problems rather than adhere to dogma. That is why he can pivot, adjust, and make deals in ways that confound both his enemies and his allies.

Already, there is grumbling within his coalition that he might shift from a “deport everyone” stance toward a solution that includes some form of legalization for people illegally in the United States who meet specific criteria. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, recently warned his followers that wealthy donors and political insiders are pressuring Trump to ease off mass deportation rhetoric.

When Trump recently told a group of farmers, ‘You can police your own workforces. I trust you,’ it wasn’t just a throwaway line. It was a signal, an acknowledgment of the obvious: industries like agriculture, construction, and hospitality rely heavily on migrant labor. He’s signaling a willingness to find a solution that works, even if it deviates from past slogans. That’s precisely why he may be the only political figure in a generation capable of leading on comprehensive immigration reform.

We have seen this kind of flexibility before. He imposed tariffs and called them permanent, until market response forced him to change course. He made repeated efforts to negotiate with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, but when it became clear diplomacy was a dead end, he shifted and increased arms shipments to Ukraine.

Trump doesn’t have to win reelection again. He doesn’t need to appease elements of his base for another campaign. What he has now is one term, one shot, and a desire to go down in history as a great president. He wants results. And he knows the stakes. The country is fractured. The immigration system is broken. The border is finally under control, but that alone is not a legacy. A legacy is built by finishing the job that Reagan did not complete.

This won’t happen overnight. His assertive enforcement of immigration laws and other actions are shaping the environment to create the conditions that could lead to a significant deal with Democrats. He must simultaneously establish the prerequisites needed to convince his base that such a deal is necessary. He can then look them in the eye and say, “I gave you enforcement. Now we deal with the systemic problems of our broken immigration system, including long-term, law-abiding, contributing residents who entered illegally.” No one else has the credibility to say that and be believed.

Trump, uniquely, can cut through the gridlock. Not because the left trusts him, but because the right does. Despite his polarizing rhetoric and actions, Trump retains a rare credibility among the political right, a quality no other national figure can match when it comes to enforcement and compromise.

That kind of pragmatic flexibility is precisely what the current system lacks and desperately needs. The current situation is unsustainable. By most estimates, between 14 and 18 million people live in the United States illegally, a figure that exposes not only porous borders but years of failed enforcement, political cowardice, and legal ambiguity. Interior enforcement has been applied selectively or is entirely blocked by sanctuary policies. The asylum system is overwhelmed. Cities are struggling financially. Public trust has been broken.

If this is not the society we intended to build, then we must acknowledge it and change direction. Enforcement isn’t the end goal; it’s the precondition. It’s the only way to restore public trust, making reform politically possible.

Our political polarization has halted progress and obscured an essential truth: most Americans, regardless of their political views, believe in both borders and fairness. They want an immigration system that benefits workers and employers, families and communities, and most importantly, the long-term well-being of the nation.

The question isn't whether we need comprehensive reform—it's whether we have the political will to make it happen. Trump's unique position, combined with the undeniable failures of the current system, creates a window of opportunity that might not open again for decades.

Addressing the immigration issue will require something rare in our current political climate: both sides acknowledging hard truths and making tough sacrifices. Conservatives must accept that mass deportation alone cannot fix systemic issues. Progressives must accept that unlimited compassion without structure ultimately harms everyone involved. The alternative is ongoing dysfunction, ongoing exploitation, and ongoing erosion of public trust in our institutions.

The immigration issues facing the United States are significant. But they are not impossible to overcome. What we need now is the political courage to move beyond slogans and toward solutions that truly work.

That begins with an honest conversation about what's possible—and what's at stake if we don’t act.

What's Next

Over the next few weeks, I intend to examine this issue more closely through a series of posts:

Part 2: How the left's impulse toward compassion has been twisted into something disconnected from reality—and how the right's reaction to previous failures has become inflexible and short-sighted.

Part 3: What a strategic framework for immigration might look like—centered on American interests, national identity, assimilation, and practical policy tools.

Part 4: What kind of deal will be made to pass a comprehensive immigration bill that includes the legalization of millions of illegal immigrants?

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