WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats had planned to campaign in the midterm elections on affordability and health care, two issues where Americans are particularly unhappy with President Donald Trump.
But the aggressive immigration crackdown in Minnesota, including the killing of an American mother during a confrontation with federal agents, has scrambled the party's playbook.
Now Democrats are trying to translate visceral outrage into political strategy, even though there's little consensus on how to press forward on issues where the party has recently struggled to earn voters' trust.
Some Democrats want to abolish , a proposal that echoes “defund the police” rhetoric from Trump's first term, and impeach administration officials like Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Others have taken a different approach, introducing legislation intended to curb alleged abuses by federal agents. However, those ideas have been criticized by activists as insufficient, and there's mounting pressure to obstruct funding for deportations in an ongoing funding debate.
“We’re Democrats. I’m sure we’re going to have 50 different ideas and 50 different ways to say it,” said Chuck Rocha, a party strategist who is advising several House and Senate candidates on immigration this year.
If Democrats fail to strike the right balance, they could imperil their efforts to retake control of Congress and statehouses around the country. They could also hamper a chance to rebuild credibility with voters whose dissatisfaction with border enforcement under President Joe Biden helped return Trump to the White House.
Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and Biden's former domestic policy adviser, believes the party can thread the needle.
“It’s not too much to ask that we have a government that can produce a secure border, that can deport people who are not legally here, and that can also respect people’s civil and human rights,” she told The Associated Press. “This country has done that before, and it can do it again.”
Violent scenes force a strong Democratic response
Immigration crackdowns have spread from city to city since Trump took office, but the latest operation in Minnesota has generated some of the most intense controversy.
Renée Good, 37, by a federal agent earlier this month, prompting protests and angry responses from local Democratic leaders. Administration officials accused Good of trying to hit an agent with her car, an explanation that has been widely disputed based on videos circulating online.
“I think the party is very unified in our disdain and concern of the actions certainly of DHS and ICE,” said Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “We should campaign on fairness and due process for all people,” Garcia added, “which is being violated every single day by ICE and DHS. We should be aggressive in that posture.”
But pushing back on the administration requires Democrats to step onto difficult political terrain.
About 4 in 10 U.S. adults trusted Republicans more to handle immigration, according to a Washington Post/Ipsos poll from September, higher than about 3 in 10 who said the same about Democrats.
On the issue of crime, Republicans also held the advantage. About 44% thought Republicans were better, compared to 22% for the Democrats.
Republicans feel confident that their intertwined messages on crime and immigration will resonate with voters in the midterms. They frequently highlight violent criminals detained or deported, downplaying examples of nonviolent migrants who have been swept up.
“If Democrats want to make 2026 a referendum on which party stands for strong immigration policies and protecting public safety, we will take that fight any day of the week,” said Republican ɫtv Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar.
Some Democrats are more interested in using the issue as a way to pivot back to core messages about health care and the cost of living.
“I want everybody to understand, the cuts to your health care are what’s paying for ICE to be doing this,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said last week. “The cuts to your health care are what’s paying for this.”
Democratic strategists have circulated the clip as an example of a potentially effective pitch, particularly after Trump slashed funding for some safety net programs during his first year in office.
Trump faces his own public opinion challenges
The president's approval may be slipping on the issue of immigration.
His approval rating on the issue has fallen since the start of his term, according to AP-NORC polling, from 49% last March to 38% in January.
Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the U.S., said crackdowns have hurt Trump politically.
“Republican members of Congress are really uncomfortable with these agencies and their existing tactics, because they know it’s going to hurt them back at home come election cycle,” he said.
Proaño said he had been disappointed with how Democrats had accommodated the Trump administration on immigration in the last year, but he praised changes in the party's strategy since Good's death was captured on video.
“I think everyone just gasped at that, and I think there has been a marked shift since then,” he said.
Some people who have vocally supported Trump in the past, like podcast host Joe Rogan, have expressed reservations.
“Are we really going to be the Gestapo?” he asked recently.
But Trump has not shown any sign of backing down. The administration has ramped up the number of federal agents deployed to Minnesota and the Justice Department issued subpoenas to the state's Democrats, including Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as part of an investigation into whether they obstructed or impeded enforcement operations.
Democratic ɫtv Committee Chair Ken Martin, who used to lead the party in his home state of Minnesota, said “there's a lot of pain and anguish.”
“It’s heartbreaking," he said in a recent interview. "It’s chilling to think that this is the United States of America, what is supposed to be a beacon for democracy and freedom.”
