Our view: Immigration policies are the picture of ineptitude

Along with trade, immigration has been one of President Donald Trump’s signature issues. It was one of the first things out of his mouth when he announced his candidacy in 2015 and vowed to tighten the southern border.

Ever since, many of the actions he has taken have been nothing short of breathtaking — in their incoherence and incompetence.

Nothing illustrates this more than his recently delayed deportation raids. Could there be anything more ridiculous than alerting people ahead of time that the authorities are coming for them? Similar to telegraphing troop movements, announcing raids in advance could result in danger to federal agents and produce scenes reminiscent of Geraldo Rivera opening up Al Capone’s (empty) safe.

Adding to this incompetence is the turmoil at Trump’s immigration agencies. His Department of Homeland Security has no permanent leader and is beset by political infighting. His acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, John Sanders, became the latest casualty Tuesday when he announced his resignation.

It is hard for agencies to engage in anything productive when they don’t know what their next step will be, or who will be in charge.

It is also hard to get the public behind vigorous border enforcement when the administration appears to take such delight in cruelty. Stories of the horrible conditions at detention facilities, combined with Tuesday’s heart-wrenching photo of a drowned father and daughter in the Rio Grande, are enough to convince even law-andorder types that the administration’s hawkishness has gone too far.

In fact, a case can be made that Trump’s worst enemy is himself. During his first two years in office, illegal immigration was at multiyear lows. The traditional source, Mexican males, was way down. And while a new group, families and unaccompanied minors from Central America, had begun arriving in 2014, it had fallen back as well.

Then this year, the numbers from this latter group began to rise to higher levels than ever. There are likely many reasons behind this new surge. Central America is plagued by violence and poverty. And climate change is wreaking havoc on the coffee crop. But many of the president’s actions, such as cutting aid to Latin American nations and warning about doors shutting, have only made matters worse.

This isn’t to say that Trump hasn’t had some successes. He has pressured Mexico into throwing more resources into policing its southern border, which could cut the flow of migrants from Guatemala.

Nor is it to say that Democrats don’t share some blame. They’ve engaged in reckless rhetoric about “concentration” camps and resisted legislative changes that could discourage illegal immigration, such as changing asylum laws.

To survey Trump’s actions on immigration, however, is to see a picture of ineptitude.

JULIA LE DUC/AP Tania Vanessa Ávalos of El Salvador says her husband and daughter drowned crossing from Matamoros, Mexico, to Brownsville, Texas. Photos of their bodies circulated Tuesday.