Every night for the last two weeks, I have had explosions go off outside my Southern California home. Was it the invaders that MAGA politicians insist have infiltrated our country with the intent of destroying it? Maybe it was MS-13 or Venezuelan gangs. Perhaps it was a cartel or it was an Islamic terror cell. The reality is that it was the nightly Disneyland fireworks show.
Of course, politicians might have told you that Los Angeles and its vast surrounding areas were a war zone that warranted the National Guard, Marines and scores of federal agents who seem to not want to show their badges or their face. And of course, we have seen the arresting of people at immigration hearings, job sites, and off the street which caused Southern California residents to protest in the first place.
The justification for these actions started off as benignly as cracking down on illegal immigrants. Then it turned into criminals. And now everyone from Vice President JD Vance to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is using the term “invader.” This preposterous descent from immigrant to invader shows just how afraid Republicans are of demographic changes in this country, even if those changes help this country thrive.
As a Marine veteran and history major in college, I know a thing or two about invasions. We all know the most famous invasion, the Allied assault on Normandy. We may have learned about Napoleon’s failed invasion of Russia and the Mongol hordes wreaking havoc across Asia and Eastern Europe. We know the last invasion of England was in 1066 and that the Marines specialized in amphibious invasions, especially in their island-hopping campaign against the Japanese Empire. And of course, we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan (and maybe Iran soon, who knows).
While all these invasions have relied on horses, tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, along with weapons like bows, swords and guns, this current invasion of America is way worse. You have guys sneaking across the border and proceeding to head to a Home Depot to help a contractor remodel a kitchen.
A lot of invaders have taken up jobs at hotels to clean rooms of guests, clearly nefarious behavior. Of course, the most dastardly of all, are the thousands of invaders who work tirelessly to ensure that millions of Americans have access to fresh fruits, vegetables, meat and other produce.
These are the first invaders in history to actually make a country stronger and more profitable. It turns out that President Trump and company ran out of criminals to deport but still need photo ops to look like they are accomplishing something. The running out of criminals part is no joke. About 93 percent of the people arrested in these Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids don’t have any violent convictions.
So in order to keep this narrative, the Trump administration has decided to reframe immigration at large. You see, coming to this country and working is now considered an invasion. That’s where the Republicans are. Not immigration reform. Not fixing a broken system. Not getting the backlog fixed. Not a Ronald Reagan-style amnesty. And surely not punishing the people that hire undocumented labor.
Instead, Americans are having to reconcile seeing federal agents dressing up like Delta Force commandos running around the streets of America using explosives to enter houses or arresting Afghans who helped U.S. troops at their immigration hearings. It seems like to keep support up for his tough immigration stance, Trump and his acolytes have to keep moving the goal posts.
Illegal immigration is an important topic to Trump voters. Eighty eight percent of Republicans wanted mass deportations and 96 percent wanted tougher security on the border. However, 71 percent of Republicans are OK with letting in high skilled immigrants, 63 percent were fine with allowing international students who earned a degree to stay, and 55 percent supported accepting immigrants who could fill labor shortages.
In other words, there was and is a massive disconnect between who Republicans thought would be deported and who Trump is trying to justify deporting now. Americans are seeing that the vast majority of people whom Trump and company called invaders are just ordinary folks who make America a better and more prosperous place.
Key in on the word prosperous. There is no doubt we need to fix the current immigration system. It is exploitation. In fact, it seems like Trump wants to give reprieves to certain sectors knowing full well that his promise of mass deportations would damage an already teetering economy. Farmers and hotel workers are the latest group Trump is giving a break to. So, how do you keep the economy from suffering a labor shortage while still keeping your promise to deport?
Frame even more people as invaders. Illegals didn’t work, and criminals couldn’t stick. So, now we have to pretend that the guy who is washing dishes at a restaurant is invading our country just like the Russians are invading Ukraine. Sounds ridiculous right? Yet, that is what MAGA is trying to convince the rest of us.
Jos Joseph is a published writer and is a graduate of the Harvard Extension School and Ohio State University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.
