Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Trumps’ administration is expected to target “sanctuary cities” for the mass arrest of immigrants. The raids are expected to come before Election Day and will be targeted in cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE, including places in California as well as Denver, Colorado, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Allegedly, ICE is also taking out paid advertising on billboards about local immigration arrests.
The Washington Post reports that, “the immigration operation would sync with two themes of Trump’s reelection campaign: his crackdown on immigration and his push to vilify cities led by Democrats, whom he blames for crime and violence.”
Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are nothing new and have been central themes in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He brought up his “law and order” message to appeal to his racist base of voters during the first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden, on the other hand, has said he would freeze deportation for his first 100 days in office. Trump is using ICE and the threat of mass deportation to try to win the election as MAGA lovers are notorious for hating anyone who exists outside of their own beige existence
A September poll released by the Immigration Hub found that in battleground states, 60% of voters agree that neighborhoods are “safer when we let local law enforcement decide how best to protect public safety and build trust with the communities they serve.” Even non-Immigrants want ICE out of their communities.
The Immigration Hub estimates that the Trump campaign spends hundreds of thousands of ad dollars on a weekly basis to promote the campaigns harmful immigration, economy, and “law and order” rhetoric. Since March 30th it’s estimated that the Trump campaign has spent over $7 million on anti-immigrant Facebook ads.