A legalization program even Republicans can support

At a meeting with a bipartisan group of congressmen during his first term in office, President Trump explained that he wanted to provide lawful status for participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and that this was just the first phase of a plan for overhauling our immigration laws. 

Let’s do a legalization program for them first, he said, then work on a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Trump’s plan was abandoned when negotiations ended without an agreement.  

Circumstances have changed since then. The border is now secure. Interior enforcement of our immigration laws has been so successful that 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have left the U.S. voluntarily since January 2025.   

Today, the Republicans need to show that their immigration enforcement measures are not motivated by animosity toward immigrants. A recent YouGov poll indicates that opposition to Republican immigration measures is increasing. Support for abolishing ICE has reached 50 percent, and that number includes 52 percent of independents.   

A bill to update the registry provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act would be a good first step — and it could have enough bipartisan support to be enacted if it is amended to restrict the lawful status it provides. 

The Registry Act of 1929 established a process for immigrants to create a record of lawful admission for permanent residence. They were required to establish that they had entered the U.S. before 1921, had a residence in the United States........

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