Immigration is a key issue affecting Americans, but not just in terms of border security.
While border crossings have been going down, one glaring issue with American immigration is whether or not these immigrants are assimilating into American civic life — which in many cases, they are not.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey that the president needs to “really double down on the importance of assimilation, the importance of wanting to be an American beyond getting the certificate that you’re an American citizen.”
“The best way to be a pro-immigration country is to have laws that require immigrants to assimilate,” he says.
“Americans want their country back. And I can think of no president, certainly in modern history, who better embodies the desire to do that than Donald Trump,” he adds.
And as a "suburban mom,” Stuckey wholeheartedly agrees.
“Those are the things I really see affecting my community. And it’s not only illegal immigration. And this is where I think the conversation has shifted on the right in a good way. I just don’t know the solution for it,” she says.
“People are saying yes, illegal immigration number one, but also it doesn’t seem like our legal immigration is really prioritizing American interests,” she continues.
“And when people see their communities, the neighborhoods that they grew up in completely shift, and when people see churches turning into mosques, I think most Americans are uncomfortable saying it, but there’s something unsettling about it,” she adds.
“I’m not uncomfortable saying it,” Roberts responds.
“We have to understand that this country was based on principles that came from Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and Philadelphia,” he explains. “We are both Judeo and Christian in our founding. That doesn’t mean that there isn't room for other people, but it does mean that it’s possible in a country that is so generous toward immigrants that we might have too many people from the wrong places.”
To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
A federal judge ruled in favor of a Salvadoran illegal alien and dismissed smuggling charges after accusing the Trump administration of unfairly retaliating against him.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has become a cause célèbre of the left after he was scooped up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to be deported after living in Maryland for more than a decade.
'Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation.'
The Trump administration was forced by a federal judge to bring Garcia back to the U.S. in April 2025, but then immediately turned around and charged him with smuggling crimes related to an arrest incident in 2022.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw agreed with Garcia's defense that the Trump administration's prosecution was acting out of vindictiveness against him.
Crenshaw gave the government attorneys space to argue against the finding but concluded eventually that "the evidence before this Court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power."
While the judge said there was not enough evidence to prove actual vindictiveness, he said the government did not argue well enough against the "retaliatory taint" alleged by the defense.
"The Court does not reach its conclusion lightly," the judge wrote. "The objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego's successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution. The Executive Branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop. Only after Abrego succeeded in vindicating his rights did the Executive Branch reopen that investigation."
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said the department would appeal the decision.
The media had come to the defense of Garcia from the beginning and was mocked for identifying him as a "Maryland man" in headlines in order to garner sympathy for his plight.
His family pleaded in the media that he was not a violent criminal and was a good husband and father, before it was revealed that he was reported for domestic violence.
RELATED: VIDEO: Democrat melts down during hearing over evidence that Kilmar Garcia is an MS-13 gang member
During a hearing about the case, a Justice Department attorney admitted in court that Garcia had been deported to El Salvador due to a clerical mistake. That attorney was later suspended and has since become a vocal critic of the administration's legal policies.
Garcia has been accused by the Trump administration of being an MS-13 criminal gang member, but he has denied the allegations.
Judge Crenshaw was nominated to the court by former President Barack Obama in 2015.
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U.S. Border Patrol agents in San Diego discovered 19 people, including convicted drug traffickers, hiding in a drainage system near the border, according to a Customs and Border Protection press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.
On the evening of May 4, Border Patrol agents from the Chula Vista Station, using the Remote Video Surveillance System, detected “suspicious activity” near the drainage tunnels. When they responded to the scene, they found a group of individuals attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through the drainage system.
'If you try to illegally cross our border, we will catch you and arrest you.'
They arrested 19 suspects, 16 adults and three unaccompanied minors, all of whom are Mexican citizens.
“The dedicated men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, alongside our law enforcement partners, have arrested and removed thousands of criminal aliens from the country — including gang members, rapists, kidnappers, and drug traffickers — to make our communities safer,” the CBP stated.
Raudel Carrillo-Padilla, 35, and his brother, Ivan Carrillo-Padilla, 31, were among those arrested. The two had previously been deported from the U.S. following a 2017 conviction for possession, transport, and intent to sell methamphetamine in Yreka, California. Ivan Carrillo-Padilla was deported a second time after he was arrested in 2019 for a drug-related interdiction stop in Eugene, Oregon.
RELATED: 6 people found dead in boxcar in Texas border town, police say
All of the suspects were transported to the Chula Vista Station for processing. They will face either removal or federal prosecution, the CBP’s press release stated.
“These smuggling attempts are not only dangerous, but they also frequently involve individuals who pose a threat to public safety,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre said. “Thanks to the vigilance of our agents and the effective use of surveillance technology, this group — which included convicted drug traffickers — was apprehended before they could move further into our communities. If you try to illegally cross our border, we will catch you and arrest you.”
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You might not know it by watching algorithmically approved conservative media, but we are in the thick of primary season, with important red-state primaries taking place nearly every Tuesday. In most states, the primary outcomes these weeks will be of greater consequence than the general election in November.
Sadly, special interest-supporting liberal Republicans will likely win most races — often thanks to Trump’s support. However, last week’s Indiana Senate elections demonstrated that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Trump has scared away quality challengers in every single congressional primary by reflexively endorsing incumbents.
Last week, we were entreated to what it looks like to finally have a unified and organized movement. A group of liberal Republicans in the Indiana Senate blocked a core party initiative; in this case, it was redistricting, and all but one target was defeated.
Thanks to Trump endorsements and support from Turning Point USA, the Club for Growth, and Indiana Sen. Jim Banks (R), six or seven state senators were defeated. Along with two more conservatives who won in open districts, a quarter of the entire Senate GOP conference shifted to the right, meaning they will likely have the votes to replace the Senate president.
This victory raises an obvious question: How come we don’t see united movements in other red states to replace entrenched groups of liberal Republicans who buck the party platform and betray their voters?
Instead, we often see Trump endorse those incumbents, who then attack the few conservatives we currently have in legislative chambers. If Trump would only endorse the way he did in Indiana, we’d change the party in one election cycle. Unfortunately, in almost every other primary, the president has been a net liability.
Even in Indiana, the president was something of a double-edged sword, as he successfully re-elected two Senate RINOs — Liz Brown and Ron Alting — simply because they voted for redistricting, but they were horrible on numerous other issues. Jim Banks himself opposed Alting because he was a champion of transgenderism and illegal aliens.
In Congress, both Reps. Jefferson Shreve (Ind. 6) and Jim Baird (Ind. 4) were vulnerable. Shreve only won his race by five points, which means Trump’s endorsement likely made a difference. Baird is one of the original sponsors of Florida Republican Rep. Maria Salazar’s amnesty bill.
RELATED: Trump needs to denounce the Dignity Act
Looking ahead to Idaho’s upcoming primary, conservatives are outraged over a video surfacing from Gov. Brad Little (R) lambasting those who oppose illegal immigration. The Freedom Caucus in the state has tried to shut off illegal labor, but Little and his allies are not only blocking those bills, they are funding challengers against the conservatives.
Little has been a thorn in the side of conservatives for years and only received 60% in his re-election during the 2022 primary. It was well understood that he’d have a hard time running for a third term in 2026, but he preemptively secured Trump’s endorsement, which all but ensured that quality candidates like Attorney General Raul Labrador could not get into the race.
Numerous primaries have already been canceled because of Trump’s endorsements.
Before he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk had endorsed Nate Morris for Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in Kentucky. Earlier this month, Trump endorsed establishment Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), forcing Morris out of the race in exchange for an ambassadorship.
Meanwhile, Trump has scared away quality challengers in every single congressional primary by reflexively endorsing incumbents. The only incumbent he is trying to unseat is Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). As a conservative, I have some disagreements with Massie on Hamas, Islam, crime, drugs, and immigration in general, but we all know that Trump singling him out has more to do with Massie’s dissent on the issues we do agree on.
Then, of course, there is Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who just won yet another term thanks to a Trump endorsement. Conservatives complain bitterly about RINO senators wasting deep red states and undermining our ability to accomplish anything. Well, Capito is ground zero for this mismatch.
RELATED: How Republicans have failed to defund sanctuary cities for a generation
In a state Trump won by 40 points, Capito is liberal on both fiscal and social issues and embodies the special interest and lack of heart, brain, and soul of the geriatric Senate GOP Conference that was led by Mitch McConnell.
Tom Willis, who was a state senator and Green Beret, was a viable challenger. Trump could have easily endorsed him and kept the seat in conservative hands, but he handed Capito another term. Capito also bankrolled a number of RINOs in the legislature who successfully fended off conservative challengers.
As conservatives scramble to push redistricting in southern states in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling, those who have slept through 10 years of Trump’s primary sabotage are surprised to find many RINOs in these supermajority Republican states who are recalcitrant to fully eliminate Democrat districts.
Tyler Bowyer, CEO of Turning Point Action, observed, “In deep red states like Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama — a large percentage of 'moderate republicans' are actually Democrats.”
The State Freedom Caucus Network has been valiantly fighting these people who have consistently been buttressed by Trump endorsements. The water is warm. It would be nice for conservative leaders with large followers or millions of dollars in PAC money to actually lead Trump rather than follow him and support the foot soldiers who are risking their livelihoods and careers to fight for the issues they post about.
Florida Rep. Maria Salazar (R) and her some 20 Republican co-sponsors of a massive amnesty bill have put President Trump in a terribly awkward position. In truth, it is more than just awkwardness; it is political malpractice.
The fanfare around the amnesty bill, the Dignity Act, has begun a process of division and distraction going into a crucial midterm cycle.
Merely floating the idea of amnesty results in more illegal immigration to the US border.
The Dignity Act is dominating conversations surrounding the trajectory of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration and forcing the question of whether the administration supports it.
Last week, CBS News peppered border czar Tom Homan with loaded questions about the supposed need for providing legal status for illegal aliens in the United States. After trying to put the question away, Homan responded, “There’s discussions going on. I’m involved with some and not others, but I’m not going to get ahead of the president on this.”
Discussions of amnesty in the Trump administration? The internet exploded, and it’s largely still exploding. Given the low level of deportations conducted to date, some 340,000 in FY2025 according to recent estimates, many political observers are starting to question whether the mass deportation program will be fulfilled at the scale advertised.
This low number, in addition to the lack of explicit opposition to the Dignity Act from the Trump administration, has led many people to reasonably believe that amnesty discussions are on the table. Republicans pushing amnesty is nothing new, after all. Additionally, the co-sponsors of the Dignity Act largely are all endorsed for re-election by President Trump.
What we are witnessing appears to be strategic ambiguity. Salazar and her allies are hitting the media circuits claiming that somehow the Dignity Act is not amnesty. That claim has rightfully been ridiculed, but they remain insistent that a square peg is a circle.
RELATED: The Dignidad Act is a complete betrayal of Republican voters
Meanwhile, the White House has carefully avoided criticizing the bill by name, instead choosing to rule out amnesty of any type. Take another Homan quote, for example: "I said from day one, I’ll say it again ... President Trump said amnesty is off the table. I support that. I don’t think amnesty should be on the table.”
Having known Homan for years, I know that he genuinely opposes amnesty. But in this environment, supporters of the president’s promised immigration agenda need to hear that the White House considers the Dignity Act to be amnesty. Without that explicit rejection, the ambiguity will be perceived as tolerance.
Of course, it is not the White House’s job to denounce every last bill that pops up in Congress. But the unfortunate truth is that the Dignity Act is out there and has captured enough attention that it is a subject of an intense debate that, if left untended to, will only dampen midterm turnout.
That’s one reason why what Salazar and her ilk have done is so damaging. Shilling for amnesty will be taken seriously unless explicitly denounced, putting the White House in a position it should not be in.
Salazar’s damage gets worse. Take for example what Homan said during his CBS interview that did not receive any meaningful attention: “I would love Congress to do some things. My concern right now is that a lot of the successes we’ve had, unprecedented success, is based on executive orders, which can certainly be turned around by the next president.”
What Homan was referring to are border security laws to prevent a future Democrat administration from doing the exact same thing that Biden did and demanding amnesty in exchange for turning off another invasion.
How do I know? Well, I worked with Homan to help put together H.R. 2, otherwise known as the Secure the Border Act of 2023, during the Biden years. That bill was purely defensive in nature. It closed loopholes that the Biden administration weaponized to let 10 million plus cross the border.
RELATED: Funding is useless if Democrat judges can still hold ICE hostage
While it is true that President Trump didn’t need new laws to secure the border, it is also true that President Newsom, Ocasio-Cortez, or Comey won’t need new laws to open it again. We could find ourselves in the exact same negotiating posture as before: trade border security for amnesty, the very same trick that President Reagan fell for in historic fashion.
Any serious person who has worked in the immigration space knows that merely floating the idea of amnesty results in more illegal immigration to the U.S. border. During the Obama years, illegal aliens were flowing across with smiles on their faces and bragging about the “permisos” they had to cross due to Obama. As Biden readied to enter the White House, illegal aliens flooded the border for the same reason.
With news emerging that the U.S. border may not be as completely zipped tight as we hoped, Salazar’s advertising for amnesty can predictably result in more illegal aliens deciding to roll the dice and head north.
For all these reasons and more, the wise thing for both political and national sovereignty reasons is for the Trump administration to respond to Salazar’s push with an explicit and unmistakable denunciation.
A skeptical base needs to see strength on the immigration issue. Clearing up any confusion on this matter would go a long way toward restoring trust and keeping the president’s strongest base of supporters together going into the midterm elections.
Amid the flood of anti-ICE messaging inundating social media feeds and classrooms, leftists are teaching kids to demonize federal agents who enforce America’s immigration laws. Now children’s book authors Mike Howell and Ryan Neuhaus are pushing back on this messaging that seeks to “indoctrinate kids into open borders ideology.” Howell and Neuhaus’ new picture book […]
Contra enthusiasts for lawlessness, a great way to improve American neighborhoods would be to arrest, detain, and deport all illegal aliens.
Hypocrisy Wins: Sex Therapist Maureen Galindo was considered the “poster child” for exploding antisemitism in the Democratic Party.
Our immigration regime is a relic of 1960s liberalism, based on the fatuous notion that anyone from anywhere can become an American.
The Washington Post this week is drawing attention to women whose illegal alien husbands have been detained, thus leaving them to care for their children alone. Leave it to the Post to squeeze out another immigration narrative that completely skips over the reason Americans voted for mass deportations in favor of some sob story about […]
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