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While campaigning in New Hampshire, Nikki Haley was asked about the surge of migrants at the border. "When I'm president," the former Republican governor of South Carolina said, "we're going to stop catch-and-release, and we're going to start catch-and-deport."
No president has put forth such a stern-sounding policy on illegal immigration since Democrat Barack Obama. His administration deported over 2.5 million undocumented entrants, concentrating on those who had committed crimes.
Obama was dumped on by immigrant advocates who called him "deporter in chief." Latino activists occupied some of his campaign offices. But guess what? When it came time for re-election, Latinos turned out in record numbers to support Obama.
So much for the political power of "activists" on this -- and other -- issues.
Listen to Haley's views on immigration and you hear the usual things, some wrapped in vagueness. She said that undocumented immigrants should be divided between those working and paying taxes and "those that are feeding off the system." She said, "If they're feeding off the system, you send them back."
Who can argue against sending back the freeloaders? But is she saying that people working illegally but paying taxes get a pass? Yes, possibly, but if so, she is not proposing anything that would stop unauthorized workers from getting jobs here in the first place.
Haley went after "sanctuary cities," which nowadays is shooting fish in a barrel. That some cities wouldn't cooperate with federal immigration authorities was reckless from the start. The current strain posed by the huge influx of asylum seekers has ended that kind of talk.
And there's a lesson in all this for President Joe Biden. His policies aren't bad. He just suffers from the Democratic disease of not taking credit for things most of the public supports.
Trump's famous COVID-era policy, Title 42, was, in effect, catch and release. It quickly turned back people at the border but came with no consequences for trying to enter illegally.
Under Biden, anyone entering the country illegally would face a five-year ban on re-entry. That person could face deportation and possible criminal prosecution. Biden has also boosted enforcement at the border and now backs construction of more border wall.
The need now is to modernize the asylum program so it can quickly adjudicate claims. Thing is, you need two parties to fix it, and until just a few weeks ago, a collapsed Republican caucus couldn't get its act together.
Candidates need to acknowledge these truths on immigration. The wave of migrants seeking better lives in rich countries is happening across the world.
This country may need more workers, but there's no right to cheap labor.
Truth No. 1 is that the politics of it all are messy.