In 2006, 37 percent of Democrats said that immigration levels should be decreased, while only 20 percent said that it should be increased. The same trend has held on border politics: In 2010, 47 percent of Democrats said that they equally prioritized legalizing undocumented immigrants and “better border security and stronger enforcement of immigration laws,” while just 29 percent prioritized legalization alone. The vanishing bipartisan consensus orchestrated mammoth deportations and militarized the border in the quixotic hope of placating the nativist right and winning it over to supporting immigration reform. The border must be demilitarized, which would include demolishing the already-existing wall and dramatically downsizing the Border Patrol. The bipartisan consensus supporting harsh immigration and border enforcement has fractured.

Source: New York Times February 11, 2019 12:45 UTC