Democrats were so enraged by the Trump administration’s March deportations of illegal immigrants — many of whom were believed to be members of the violent transnational gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua — that they found themselves in the unenviable position of defending Kilmar Abrego Garcia: an accused wife beater, likely MS-13 member, and alleged human trafficker.
Overnight, the due process rights of “Maryland dad” Abrego Garcia became the party’s cause célèbre. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) even traveled to El Salvador to fight for his release.
When the Department of Homeland Security released video footage showing Abrego Garcia being stopped by a Tennessee state trooper in late November 2022 — driving an SUV packed with people, lending serious weight to the human trafficking allegations — Democrats simply pivoted. The facts no longer mattered; it was all about defending his “due process rights.”
So when Democrats learned that ICE agents had conducted a lawful immigration raid at Glass House Farms — an illegal cannabis grower near Camarillo, California — they went into a collective meltdown. Protestors tried to block military vehicles as they arrived at the site. They tried to jam the poles of their Mexican flags into the vehicle’s tires and smash their windows. They threw rocks and one demonstrator is caught on video firing a pistol at law enforcement agents. I wrote about the protest this morning here.
But it didn’t stop there. Grandstanding Democratic politicians and pundits have spent the last 24 hours filling the airwaves with condemnations of the raids.
On Friday, a DHS spokesman told Fox News that “nine unaccompanied minors in the U.S. illegally were rescued.”
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott reported that “10 juveniles were found at this marijuana facility – all illegal aliens, 8 of them unaccompanied.” He added that the farm is “now under investigation for child labor violations.”
This is a big deal. In addition to finding dozens of illegal immigrants working at Glass House Farms, agents found 10 children, most of whom were unaccompanied.
This puts Democrats, once again, in the position of defending the indefensible: this time, illegal child labor.
In the video below, Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) calls the ICE raid “horrific.” She says, “It shouldn’t be this way. It’s vulgar. It’s un-American. This is not what we are about here.”
Most of us think it’s “vulgar” and “un-American” for children to be in this country without their parents, and to be working.
The Libs of TikTok, who posted this clip, summed it up perfectly: “Democrats are now the party of unaccompanied illegal alien child labor at weed farms.”
In the post below, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) tried to score some political points. He wrote: “How many MS-13 gang members are waking up at 3 a.m. to pick strawberries? O’yeah, zero! Trump said he’d go after “bad hombres,” but he’s targeting the immigrant farm workers who feed America. Either he lied — or he can’t tell the difference.”
Unfortunately for Gomez, he was immediately slapped down by President Trump’s Rapid Response team: “This was not a strawberry farm and you know it. It was a marijuana facility, where unaccompanied minors were found— yet you continue to defend it. TDS has broken your brain, Jimmy.”
TDS has indeed broken Gomez’s brain. In fact, it’s broken the entire Democratic Party.
In their zeal to oppose everything Trump stands for, Democrats have been forced into some very politically compromising positions. Their defense of a likely gang member and an illegal cannabis farm that hires not only illegal immigrants, but employs child labor, are only the latest examples. And considering the majority of the electorate supports the deportation of all illegal immigrants, neither will play well at the ballot box.
Additionally, Democrats have vehemently opposed DOGE’s efforts to expose waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government, and ID requirements at the ballot box. They refuse to admit there are only two genders. They support allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports. They’ve embraced DEI and refuse to let it go. These positions are not reasonable; they are simply insane.
And I have to ask: Are they reaching the end-stages of TDS?
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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