The public opinion research initiative Blueprint attributed President-elect Donald Trump’s victory to three main issues: inflation, immigration and voter alienation from cultural liberalism and the Democratic brand. Blueprint concluded that Vice President Harris failed to outrun her past on all three — and perhaps no single issue illustrates those headwinds as clearly as immigration.
Our failed border policies have allowed millions of undocumented foreigners to enter the U.S. over the past several years with no plan to integrate them into American culture and life. We allowed undocumented migrants to flood into our country with no budget to educate or house them; no mechanism to assure working-class Americans that their own wages would not be undercut by under-the-table work; no credible method to address and counteract the violent crime and human trafficking that are baked into large, unmanaged waves of illegal immigration.
Harris was punished by voters for all of this on Nov. 5, and Trump was reelected to solve these problems.
Trump campaigned aggressively on the Biden/Harris administration’s failed border policies. He also communicated a clear and simple solution to this problem: the answer to mass illegal immigration was mass deportation. Trump seems prepared to make good on his promise when he takes office.
I want Trump to be successful in his second term, so I hope he considers the wisdom of economist Thomas Sowell as he moves from campaigning to the realities of governance and presidential leadership. “There are no solutions,” Sowell famously warned. “There are only trade-offs.”
Trump should consider how to address illegal immigration with more favorable trade-offs than strict mass deportation by following these three pillars.
First, Trump should continue to embrace the message of mass deportation, as it carries an important deterrent effect with any migrants considering an illegal crossing in the future. Those who break the law when entering our country should know they will face immediate deportation.
Second, Trump should apply the policy of mass deportation in a forward-looking, selective manner for undocumented immigrants already here. Americans know that migrants did not create this mess — our own bad policies did. Trump should demonstrate magnanimity in his application of deportation to prevent a public backlash that could negatively affect everything he wants to accomplish over the next four years.
Third, Trump should think big about solutions (and trade-offs) to our illegal immigration problem. America is blessed to be a nation that attracts ambitious risk-takers from across the world; our undocumented immigrant problem today conceals an opportunity that most nations could only dream about.
Consistent with these pillars, Trump could act to deport every known criminal, terrorist, drug dealer and lawbreaker who has crossed into the country over the past few years. No American wants these people here — they need to go home.
But for everyone else who trekked across the world believing in the promise of our country — and who assessed (accurately) that the Biden administration would just let them in — Trump could create an opportunity to earn the privilege to remain in the U.S. Specifically, the Trump administration could launch a new national service project that would give undocumented immigrants the opportunity to contribute to our ongoing efforts to create a more perfect union.
Migrants who say yes to national service before citizenship could start by self-identifying themselves voluntarily and applying to the national service program. This would reduce the costly and politically toxic “rounding up” process of a mass deportation plan, and would immediately reveal the undocumented immigrants who wish to be here the right way.
Once accepted into the national service project, immigrants could be taught English, allowing them to learn our national language while they work in service of the nation. Learning English would also critically prepare migrants to communicate with Americans when their service is complete — a prerequisite for all citizens in a self-governing democracy.
The project could also train and educate migrants on the constitutional values that are the source of America’s strength. We could ensure that migrants understand the norms, expectations and responsibilities that define American life before being granted the privilege of participating in it with us after their national service is complete.
An ambitious national service project like this could also present new opportunities. Vice President-elect JD Vance has spoken frequently and in a deeply personal manner about the millions of Americans who suffer from substance abuse and chronic unemployment. Trump could invite such people into the project, too, elevating them as American “mentors.” Their participation would fuel the project’s success and public buy-in, allowing these Americans to develop and use valuable skills in a structured and meaningful way. Their success through this project would demonstrate to us all the power of a second chance.
Trump is a great builder. Just imagine what he could build with $88 billion per year, the estimated cost of mass deportation. Americans are creative, ambitious and visionary people. Just imagine the incredible ideas Americans could dream up if Trump unleashed our creativity and invited citizens to submit ideas and proposals for this national service project. The workforce is here and willing.
In return for their contributions, each immigrant could be given a test of citizenship at the conclusion of their national service, with those who pass granted the opportunity to become full American citizens, having given to the nation before the nation gave to them.
The greatest presidents find ways to unite and inspire Americans in the face of national challenges. A major national service project would have that potential today.
I encourage Trump to think big about the challenge of illegal immigration, because in it lies the opportunity to not only make America great again, but greater than ever before.
Will Harwood is a public affairs consultant and civic entrepreneur based in Northern Virginia.
