For Trump, a hot-button issue goes from being a big strength to being a liability

The border crisis that helped Donald Trump reclaim the White House is giving way to a different kind of turmoil -- one unfolding on American streets, where confrontations over deportations are testing public support for his immigration agenda ahead of the fraught midterm elections.

Two years ago, images of overcrowded migrant camps, long caravans travelling through Central America and concerns about pressure on public services dominated the political debate. The tightening of immigration enforcement under President Joe Biden, followed by Trump's more aggressive crackdown, has since pushed much of that visible disorder out of the borderlands and into American cities.

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Violent encounters between federal agents and residents have become an increasingly contentious feature of the administration's campaign to remove people living in the country illegally.

The shift has caused a major complication for Trump. An issue that helped propel his return to power is now exposing divisions among voters and Republicans, even as the president retains support for his handling of border security.

Polling indicates growing disapproval of his broader immigration approach, potentially complicating Republican efforts to retain control of Congress in the midterms.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, among the administration's most vocal critics, said voters had backed tougher border enforcement but were now witnessing constitutional concerns, mass deportations and the deaths of American citizens during encounters with federal agents in Minneapolis.

Trump's supporters, however, argue that the president's success in reducing illegal crossings has weakened the political urgency of the issue.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Centre for Immigration Studies, said the scale of unauthorised migration under the previous administration had been impossible for voters to overlook. But once Trump brought crossings down sharply, the political benefits of the issue began to diminish.

The administration has continued to intensify enforcement. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 51,000 immigrants living in the country illegally in August, according to the Department of Homeland Security, compared with 49,000 in July and 43,000 in June.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 660,000 people were deported during the past fiscal year, below the administration's annual target of 1 million.

Trump continues to invoke the border to mobilise Republican voters. At a recent rally in Florida, he accused Democrats of allowing migrants from around the world to enter the country in large numbers, warning that a Democratic victory in the midterms would bring a return to those policies.

From border crisis to deportation backlash

Immigration was central to Trump's 2024 campaign. He repeatedly portrayed illegal immigration as an invasion, claimed that migrants were poisoning the country's blood and falsely blamed them for rising crime and the eating of household pets.

Despite criticism of his rhetoric, the issue resonated with voters concerned about the surge in illegal immigration during Biden's presidency. Border arrests involving migrants from Mexico reached a record 250,000 in December 2023.

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The political momentum extended beyond Trump's own campaign. Forty-six Democrats in the House of Representatives and 12 in the Senate joined Republicans in supporting the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia student killed by a man living in the country illegally. The law mandates detention without bond for non-citizens accused of murder and certain other violent crimes.

After returning to office, Trump accelerated deportations. One case that intensified scrutiny involved Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident whom the administration sent to El Salvador despite a court order prohibiting the move. He was confined in the country's notorious central prison, which also held other people deported under Trump.

The US Supreme Court subsequently directed the administration to facilitate his return. Van Hollen travelled to El Salvador to meet Abrego Garcia, although some Democrats initially questioned whether confronting Trump over immigration was politically wise when the president appeared to enjoy considerable support on the issue.

That hesitation has since given way to a more assertive opposition. Van Hollen said Democrats had moved from criticising the administration from the sidelines to backing efforts to defund ICE.

Minneapolis, a turning point

The administration's enforcement campaign initially took shape through high-profile operations led by Gregory Bovino, a senior Border Patrol commander known for appearing in tactical gear during raids. Federal forces were deployed to Los Angeles and Chicago, where Bovino led a helicopter-assisted operation targeting an apartment building.

Minneapolis proved more damaging politically. More than 2,000 federal officers were sent to the city, where masked agents arriving in convoys of unmarked vehicles became a familiar sight. The operations triggered widespread protests, with tens of thousands taking to the streets.

The deaths of two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both aged 37, during confrontations with agents intensified the backlash. In the aftermath, the White House sidelined Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Pretti's father, Michael Pretti, said the family continued to be disturbed by videos recorded by bystanders showing the shooting. Alex Pretti was carrying a holstered firearm that he was legally entitled to carry, but the footage did not show him brandishing it or attacking federal agents immediately before his death.

The episode, his father said, had left a deep impression on Americans watching a peaceful citizen being shot repeatedly while on the ground.

Arrests declined following the killings before eventually returning to record levels. The political consequences, however, persisted, exposing differences within the Republican Party over how aggressively immigration enforcement should be pursued.

Republicans divided

Some Republicans remain firmly committed to Trump's approach. Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn has promised further deportations while campaigning for governor. Others have sought to distance themselves from the administration's tactics.

Florida Representative Maria-Elena Salazar, a Cuban-American Republican, criticised the crackdown in a campaign advertisement filmed outside the White House. She has also sponsored legislation allowing immigrants living in the country illegally to remain if they have otherwise complied with the law.

Republican Representative Gabe Evans, the grandson of a Mexican immigrant, is among the measure's sponsors as he seeks to hold a competitive congressional seat in Colorado.

In New Hampshire, former senator John Sununu, who is contesting an open Senate seat, has questioned ICE's methods, including the use of masks to conceal agents' identities.

Republicans are also attempting to connect immigration with voters' concerns about the cost of living. Ohio Senator Jon Husted has attacked Democratic rival Sherrod Brown over his voting record on taxes and government spending, accusing him of directing taxpayer money towards people in the country illegally.

Frank Sharry, a longtime immigrants' rights activist who advises the centrist Democratic group Third Way, said Republicans were trying to make the election a referendum on Biden's failure to control the border. Their strategy, he said, was to portray Democrats as supporters of open borders who were unwilling to remove criminals.

Democrats recalibrate their message

Democratic candidates, meanwhile, are moving away from the messaging associated with Biden's presidency and placing greater emphasis on border enforcement.

In Texas, Senate candidate James Talarico has described himself as a border-security Democrat. He supports hiring additional Border Patrol officers and expanding the use of surveillance technology, while criticising Trump's policies as wasteful.

He has also directly acknowledged shortcomings under the previous administration, saying Biden and his team failed to manage the southern border effectively.

The shift extends to liberal candidates as well. Michigan's Abdul El-Sayed is among those careful to emphasise support for secure borders.

Sharry said candidates contesting competitive races were increasingly aligning themselves with stronger border controls and the removal of criminals, reflecting how substantially the political debate has changed.

For Trump, the challenge is no longer simply to demonstrate that his administration can restrict illegal immigration. It is to convince voters that the methods used to achieve that objective are justified.

As deportations continue and disputes over federal enforcement deepen, the issue that once united his political coalition risks becoming a source of division -- just as Republicans prepare to defend their congressional majority.


**Based on AP report. Inputs from various other agencies as well