The conservative base will remember this betrayal

I am an American whose family was here before there were these United States. I grew up believing that citizenship carried obligations, borders meant something, and elected leaders were supposed to defend the country we birthed. In 2024, the Republican National Convention sounded as if the party remembered that duty. Signs reading “Mass Deportations Now!” filled the hall. Tom Homan told illegal immigrants to start packing. Texas Governor Greg Abbott led chants of “Send them back!” Donald Trump promised the largest deportation operation in American history. For a brief moment, the party spoke with unusual clarity about enforcement

Two years later, parts of the same Washington establishment elite are drifting back toward the old language of “dignity,” “modernization,” and “compassion.” Bipartisan proposals promise legal status or