Vanessa Cárdenas: A New Vision for Immigration and Our Country

By Vanessa Cárdenas

As an American who deeply believes in our nation’s fundamental ethos and aspirations, it is hard to process the realization that the country we love is turning into a dystopian nightmare where paramilitary troops swarm our neighborhoods hunting for people who look like me and killing our fellow citizens. The abject cruelty and disregard for our collective humanity, the rule of law, and our rights, as demonstrated by the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, is atrocious and morally jarring.

Last year, in an opinion piece for COURIER, I took stock of the first months of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration cruelty and chaos and asked a simple question: “Isn’t there a better way?” 

Now, after a nightmare year for immigrants in America – and for the very notion of America as a nation of immigrants – my earlier impressions have become even sharper. Think of the sheer un-American sight of troops and masked ICE and CBP agents deployed in our communities as if they were an invading military force. Beyond the recent killings, consider the trauma on children, and the way kids and schools are being forced to bear the heavy burden of mass deportation. The hundreds of U.S. citizens swept up in deportation dragnets, citizens’ spouses detained at green card interviews, and canceled naturalization and citizenship ceremonies for those ready and willing to swear an oath to this country. Add to that mounting evidence  that mass deportation is spiking inflation and inflicting economic damage on industries like construction, agriculture, and leisure and hospitality. Or the harm to public safety caused by this administration diverting money and manpower away from child exploitation and gun trafficking investigations and toward mass deportation efforts.

The mass deportation agenda makes all of America poorer, weaker, and less safe. Immigration has become the tip of the spear for this administration’s broader assault on core constitutional pillars. And it’s essential that all of us who have been horrified by this past year work to define – and fight for – an alternative vision in 2026.

Though it’s of course being directed by President Trump and Stephen Miller in Washington, DC, the true costs and harms of mass deportation and the anti-immigrant agenda are felt most acutely in states and communities across America – in Minnesota and elsewhere.

It is little wonder that the American public is recoiling. Poll after poll shows that this administration’s immigration agenda is unpopular and “has gone too far,” a verdict overwhelmingly echoed in media exit polls from the 2025 elections. In the aftermath of Ms. Good’s killing, multiple polls showed that Americans have moved  sharply against ICE and recognize that the agency is making us “less safe” rather than “more safe.” And that was before this weekend’s killing of Mr. Pretti.

So what can we expect for the rest of 2026? For one, we can be confident that Trump and Stephen Miller aren’t going to suddenly listen to the American people and rein in their anti-immigration tirades. In fact, they will do the opposite –  as their Orwellian response to Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti’s murders reminds us – and lash out with even more demonization against immigrants, as they always do when they feel besieged. Unfortunately, in light of the unprecedented funding for immigration enforcement that Republicans in Congress appropriated for mass deportation, we can expect the immigration harms and ugliness to escalate.

This makes our collective response all the more essential. A strong majority of Americans are rightly shocked by Trump’s abuses of power and want real solutions to fix our broken immigration system. Yet a majority remains skeptical about Democrats on the issue of immigration. This means those opposed to the Trump mass deportation crusade still have work to do to define an alternative vision and a better way forward than what Trump and the GOP are implementing. 

On the heels of Mr. Pretti’s murder, there is a growing clamor for policy reforms to rein in the unchecked abuse and impunity we are witnessing in Minneapolis and beyond by adding essential accountability measures for ICE and CBP operations and ensuring we don’t give them even one penny more. But we cannot stop at enforcement alone; we must also pursue a broader, humane vision for our immigration system. That means charting a course aligned with the views of a strong majority of Americans: a balanced, common-sense approach that provides legal status for long-residing undocumented immigrants, such as Dreamers, addresses concerns about border security, creates an orderly and accessible legal immigration process, and focuses enforcement resources on genuine public safety threats. 

But the policy blueprint is only part of it. The public also is hungry for real leadership and a well-communicated alternative vision to Trump’s chaos and cruelty – one that calls out the administration’s cruelty and lies, fights for a vision of America strengthened by immigrants, and doesn’t cede the debate to violent and xenophobic loudmouths by staying silent. 

Amidst all the cruelty we are witnessing, what gives me hope is the tremendous solidarity and organizing to counter the militarization of our communities. 2026 can be a turning point in our immigration crisis and the way it’s weaponized to tear our communities apart. We must stand up to Trump, Miller, and this administration who allows these horrors to continue unchecked. We must then change course by defining and fighting for a new direction that is consistent with our values and commits to advancing common-sense solutions. 

Vanessa Cárdenas is the Executive Director of America’s Voice.