Posted on Friday, August 1, 2025
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by Matt Lamb
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40 Comments
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As Trump delivers on his 2024 campaign promise of executing the largest deportation operation in American history, Democrats are pulling out all the stops to thwart the enforcement of immigration law – even threatening private citizens with legal consequences for cooperating with federal authorities. In doing so, liberals are setting the country on a course for an all-out constitutional crisis.
The latest Democrat resistance to the rule of law came from an Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries memo, which told employers not to report their illegal alien workers to federal immigration authorities – or else risk retaliation from the Oregon state government. Commissioner Christina Stephenson specifically stated that she would “prioritize” the prosecution of companies that turned over their illegal workers to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), calling it a “chilling effect on the workplace.” Oregon is a sanctuary state, so government officials are not supposed to aid ICE or other federal immigration authorities.
In other words, complying with federal immigration law is now tantamount to breaking Oregon state law, according to Stephenson. This creates an immediate constitutional crisis, as pointed out by U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), who is also a former federal prosecutor.
“I wonder if they’ve heard of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause,” Sen. Lee wrote in response to the news from Oregon, referring to Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. The Supremacy Clause states that the Constitution and other federal laws are “the supreme Law of the Land” and take precedence over state laws.
Other Democrat officials have also ignored the Supremacy Clause and are even threatening local law enforcement who are simply assisting ICE in detaining and deporting criminal illegal aliens.
Colorado Democrat Attorney General Phil Weiser recently launched an investigation into four police agencies over the allegation that they assisted with federal immigration enforcement. Weiser also recently sued a police officer for coordinating with federal officials to detain a woman who was in the country illegally.
“This sort of situation is the reason why these laws were passed,” Weiser said, referencing sanctuary policies. “The deputy knowingly acted to assist federal immigration enforcement after the deputy knew the driver was not involved in any criminal activity and had no outstanding warrants,” he said, referring to a 19-year-old who was detained by a Mesa County officer. The teenager’s family came to the United States from Brazil 12 years ago on a tourist visa and decided to ignore the law and just stay.
Similar situations have played out elsewhere. In Rhode Island, the all-Democrat Providence City Council ordered an investigation into its own police department after its officers arrested an illegal alien. The man is a “self-admitted member of MS-13,” as reported by NewsNation, based on a quote from an ICE spokesman – but Ocean State Democrats sought to portray police officers as the bad guys in the case.
“The presence of Providence Police officers next to ICE agents during the detainment has deeply disturbed the community,” the city council complained in its letter. “Providence doesn’t want ICE thugs in our city,” Democrat state Rep. Enrique Sanchez also declared. (Apparently, he was not concerned with an actual thug gang member roaming his community.)
In Chicago, which is a sanctuary city, Democrat aldermen probed the police department over allegations that officers assisted federal law enforcement during an arrest of at least 10 people. Elected Democrats also showed up during the arrests to try to thwart the police.
Defenders of the sanctuary policies will argue that it is only a civil violation to be in the country illegally, not a criminal violation. Furthermore, they will say that they are not necessarily opposed to local police helping arrest violent criminals, but that many of those arrested are non-violent.
However, many of those who are here illegally commit other offenses that harm local communities. The illegal immigrants who work in Oregon, for example, are likely undercutting the wages of native-born Americans, because employers can pay them under the table.
As seen in Providence, Rhode Island, some individuals who are here illegally also have criminal connections and pasts that do not show up until they are arrested and processed. Furthermore, a civil violation is still a violation of the law. A police officer would be within their rights to stop someone who was harassing people while voting or who was driving a truck without the proper permits – also considered “civil” violations.
Democrats often accuse Republicans of creating a “constitutional crisis” or undermining “our democracy.” But as is typically the case on the left, these accusations are mere projection.
Donald Trump won a clear mandate from the American people last November to end the wanton abandonment of border security seen under the Biden administration and deport as many illegal aliens as possible. Now Democrats are attempting to undo that result by frustrating the enforcement of immigration law, openly defying federal authority, attacking police officers just trying to do their job, and even threatening private citizens for obeying laws passed by Congress.
That’s the real “constitutional crisis” brewing in America today – and it’s one entirely manufactured by Democrats who can’t accept that a majority of voters have entirely rejected their open borders agenda.
Matt Lamb is a contributor for AMAC Newsline and an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.
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