Immigration Is Trump’s 9/11

In recent weeks, the media have been abuzz with speculation about what a second Trump term might look like. Much of this genre of reporting amounts to psychoanalysis about an aging Trump’s desire to establish authoritarian rule, his penchant for revenge, and his employment of the national security state, even the military, to achieve all of this.

Instead of speculating, they could simply read what the national security people closest to Trump are saying. In a little-noticed interview with the Nevada Globe, Kash Patel, a former high-level national security appointee in the Trump administration who still has the former president’s ear, was pretty frank about their plans. And unlike the bombast about a “day-one dictatorship,” the plans are far more policy-focused — namely, on immigration.

Citing four specific policies in the interview, Patel says of President Trump:

• “He’s going to implement the largest deportation in US history.”

• “He’s going to empower DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and law enforcement to go out to the communities and track down these criminals and terrorists and remove them from the United States of America.”

• “He’s going to force the Mexican government to hold the drug cartels at bay and stop the human trafficking.”

• “He’s going to complete the border wall.”

It’s all about immigration, which Trump and Republicans of virtually all stripes agree constitutes a crisis — a national security crisis. And unlike other national security crises, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ‘border crisis’ is one which ordinary people comprehend and feel strongly about. Not since 9/11 has national anxiety been so high about a security issue. And as with 9/11, Trump seems poised to similarly overreact, turning security into national security — the domain of threats and guns and the province of the military and secret agencies.

Patel is a consummate national security insider, having served in the Trump administration as Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council, principal deputy at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defense. He reportedly continues to have influence with Trump and would in all likelihood serve in a second administration. 

In Patel’s interview, he connects immigration to Russia, China and Iran and other foreign threats. His interview sketches out the contours of what is likely to be the Trump administration’s essential case to voters: Vote for me and I’ll treat immigration like the national security emergency it is.

And if polling is to be believed, that could be a potent message.

“Patel believes that national security will be as important as the economy in the November election,” the article says. And not without reason: polling ranks immigration at the top of Americans’ concerns. “Immigration” tied with “the government/poor leadership” as the most important problem facing the country today for non-economic problems, according to December polling from Gallup. Voters in the Iowa caucus, which Trump won handily, reported greater concern about immigration than even the economy, an AP poll found. 

Patel’s comments echo those of Trump, who in recent weeks has adopted some of his most extreme immigration rhetoric yet. “They’re poisoning the blood of our country,” Trump said during a speech in late December. A CBS News-YouGov poll found that half of Americans — including not just Republicans but about half of independents — agreed with Trump’s statement.

Trump’s views on immigration aren’t mine. But they are most Republicans’ and a big chunk of independents, who could well determine the outcome of the 2024 election.  And Patel’s interview is a preview of what might actually come to pass if Trump wins.