President Barack Obama told Americans in a 2014 national address that his administration would focus deportation efforts on “actual threats to our security. Felons, not families. Criminals, not children. Gang members, not a mother who’s working hard to provide for her kids. … If you’re a criminal, you’ll be deported.” A White House fact sheet issued that same day reinforced that message, saying enforcement would prioritize “people who threaten national security and public safety.”
Seven years later, the Biden administration would issue similar guidance. Immigration enforcement priorities would focus on “noncitizens who are a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security.” The administration also made clear that simply being in the country illegally “should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”
Democrat administrations communicated that deporting the worst offenders was acceptable — but otherwise the American people would need to tolerate and normalize the presence of millions of people in the country illegally. The backlash to that approach would ultimately help catapult President Donald Trump back to the White House in 2024.
After the Biden administration flooded the country with millions of illegal aliens in four short years, overwhelming schools, hospitals, and hotels, and putting a strain on national cohesion, Trump promised to be the president to right that wrong. The promise resonated. A Pew Research poll from September of 2024 found that for 82 percent of Trump supporters, immigration was a leading issue. The poll also found that the number of voters who viewed immigration as a “very important” issue increased by nearly 10 percent between 2020 and 2024. A separate poll found 88 percent of Trump supporters backed “mass deportations of immigrants living in the country illegally,” and at the 2024 Republican National Convention, many Trump supporters held signs reading “Mass Deportations Now!”
It was a slogan that many thought captured Trump’s perspective on deportations and immigration enforcement more broadly: Namely, upholding the law and protecting America’s sovereignty required more than just targeting violent criminal aliens as Democrats had done in the past. It meant reversing the reality of mass illegal immigration as a whole. Which is why it’s hard to ignore voices in the White House who are reportedly urging Republicans to adopt the very same policy position that they were elected to reject.
Axios reported on Tuesday that the White House is instructing “House Republicans to stop talking about mass deportations.” White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair is pushing Republicans to talk about deporting violent criminal illegal aliens rather than mass deportations, according to the report.
Blair seemingly confirmed the strategy in a post on X: “Republicans want to keep deporting the violent/criminal illegals that Joe Biden & the Democrats in Congress let in. Democrats want to shield them from deportation, which is why they unanimously support sanctuary cities. Republicans will get the violent criminals out. Democrats will throw the border back open. Choose accordingly.”
But as Axios reported, “Mass deportations were central to the GOP’s 2024 campaign message.” “Mass Deportations” signaled a change from the Obama-Biden years’ message of focusing just on violent criminal aliens. Trump’s promise suggested that all illegal aliens, regardless of whether they have committed additional crimes beyond illegal entry, would be deported. Whether the reported messaging shift is a matter of genuine policy shift or just a PR strategy ahead of November, telling Republicans to focus on deporting violent criminals rather than “mass deportations” raises concerns about whether we are returning to the Obama-Biden policies that voters rejected in 2024.
[READ NEXT: Don’t Fall For The Media Psyop That Only Violent Illegals Should Be Deported]
But that’s not what voters voted for. Voters supported mass deportations because they’ve seen what happens when leftist politicians (and some “conservatives”) flood the country with illegal aliens.
Consider the effect of mass migration on schools. A September 2025 report by Documented found that over three years, more than 220,000 “asylum seekers and immigrant families” came to the Big Apple, and “many” have “school-aged children.”
“Citywide, more than 13,000 new English Language Learners entered the public school system between the 2022 and 2023 academic years,” according to Documented, which added that NYC public schools were “inundated” with students who can’t speak English. But schools were also suffering from overcrowding and were experiencing significant staffing shortages.
New York City wasn’t alone. Chicago has experienced the same inundation and overcrowding. Mayor Brandon Johnson said migrants were settling in already “disinvested” communities. In other words, American students already lacking proper resources and education were being sidelined because migrants overwhelmed the district with their children. One teacher said the migrants were “dropped at our doorstep, and we’re supposed to keep it moving, accept these children, educate them and keep it moving,” according to ChalkBeat Chicago.
But it wasn’t just school overcrowding in Chicago: Black Americans reported feeling left in the dust while leaders prioritized illegal aliens over carrying out basic duties of government. The Associated Press reported in 2024 that “black residents are frustrated that long-standing needs are not being met while the city’s newly arrived are cared for with a sense of urgency, and with their tax dollars.” Residents say their long-standing problems, like high crime, homelessness, and unemployment, were “left unsolved” while resources were expended to take care of illegal aliens.
Illegal aliens also affect elections, to the detriment of U.S. citizens. Congressional apportionment and Electoral College votes are based on population — not citizenship. Blue states that have incentivized mass illegal migration have increased representation that dilutes American citizens’ representation. Rep. Yvette Clark, D-N.Y., said as much in 2021, stating her district could “absorb a significant number of these migrants” because “I need more people in my district, just for redistricting purposes.”
But perhaps most important is the effect of mass migration on national cohesion and, ultimately, America’s survival. Alexander Hamilton warned in 1802, “The safety of a republic depends essentially on the energy of a common National sentiment; on a uniformity of principles and habits; on the exemption of the citizens from foreign bias, and prejudice; and on that love of country which will almost invariably be found to be closely connected with birth, education and family.”
But mass illegal migration makes it difficult to have that “common National sentiment” and “uniformity of principles” that binds a self-governing people together. Assimilation becomes very difficult (if not impossible) when millions of foreigners flood the country in large numbers. That failure is evident in schools, where millions of non-English-speaking students place a heavy burden on resources after being “dropped” on the doorstep of communities. It’s also evident at protests opposing the enforcement of federal immigration law when foreign flags, like the Mexican flag, are being waved while the American flag is burned.
These realities are why the campaign promise of mass deportations gained traction in the first place. For millions of Republicans, “mass deportations” was a mandate, not just a good campaign slogan.
Trump has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to deliver on a mandate that will decide whether America exists at all. He should take the chance that was given to him.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
