The White House appears to see immigration as a winning issue even as concerns about deportation excesses and disregard for the rule of law mount. Make no mistake — the Trump administration, at least from a political standpoint, has significant support for its stated goal of deporting violent undocumented immigrants from the United States. Public opinion surveys have shown widespread support for deportation under certain circumstances. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that view is strongest when the suspect has committed a violent crime (97% of those who favor “some” deportations) but far less when such individuals are married to a U.S. citizen or came to the U.S. as children (5% and 10%, respectively).

In many ways, President Donald Trump’s stumble on the issue is mostly a matter of taking it too far from border security and too aggressively into midnight enforcement raids and a rejection of due process. Perhaps that’s partly a matter of reckless speed. Major policy shifts and mass deportations done on the fly are bound to generate mistakes. The case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite the administration’s still-unproven claim that the former Maryland resident is a member of MS-13, is a perfect example of that.

Democrats have latched onto Abrego Garcia as a victim of Trump’s recklessness, and the case has certainly garnered a lot of attention including from Maryland U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen who visited him in El Salvador where he remains confined. As we’ve noted before, Americans should be wary of the administration’s failure to follow the law in this matter — or to correct its admitted mistake. Isn’t there some point where the White House pulls back on its immigration overreach in the same manner as it appears to be doing on tariffs?

Not without first committing to a lot of political spin, of course. One “sign” of desperation (actually, quite a few) popped up last week when the White House placed lawn signs of deported undocumented immigrants along the corridor where reporters usually do their television live shots. This attempt to retake the narrative on securing the border came off as more of a cry for help than anything else. Actions speak louder than words, and plastering propaganda in front of TV news cameras doesn’t exactly come off as “calm, cool and collected.”

On the opposite side, Democrats could do themselves a favor and point to the apparent desperation of the White House rather than continuing to focus on this one specific case with its claims and counter claims — including, most recently, a traffic stop video from 2022 that authorities say shows Abrego Garcia driving a van loaded with undocumented immigrants from Texas to Maryland for money. The Trump administration argues the video is evidence he was involved in human trafficking, while his wife, Vasquez Sura, has suggested he was simply driving workers to construction sites.

But uncertainties regarding Abrego Garcia are easy to raise in his absence including past allegations of domestic abuse. Why not instead latch onto the growing list of judicial rebukes such as Thursday’s ruling by a U.S. District Court judge in Texas blocking the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to enable deportations?

Over and over again, Trump seems desperate to portray undocumented immigrants as evil and insane or both to justify immigration agents ignoring the law as a necessity. That’s a political gift to Democrats. Yet it seems Democrats too often make the mistake of rallying around Abrego Garcia rather than the rule of law. Political theater isn’t necessarily effective when the main character may be deeply flawed or at least the facts are uncertain.

One of the places where Trump is especially in danger of overplaying his hand on immigration is on the student visa issue. A recent CNN poll found just 27% of Americans support revoking student visas of individuals based on their beliefs and statements. That’s an abysmal showing and puts Trump in serious jeopardy of losing the narrative.

If Republicans were smart, they would be having these conversations with the White House behind closed doors. And maybe they are — although right now there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of that. Can an issue that was such a political winner last November be turning into a “big loser” in just 100 days in office? It may be happening before our eyes.