A “grand bargain” on immigration is about the last thing that comes to mind when you see what has happened in Los Angeles since last Friday—and is now spreading to cities across the United States.
Even the idea of a political compromise seems impossible amid the clouds of tear gas, broken concrete hurled at police, burning Waymo robotaxis, arrests, and the arrival of National Guard and Marine troops. The war of words between President Donald Trump and California governor Gavin Newsom shows that, on anything having to do with immigration—indeed, on anything having to do with anything—the primary strategy on both sides is still: Play to the base.
Yet a revised version of past efforts at compromise—a policy somewhere between “deport them all” and “abolish ICE”—is what the broader public probably wants. These are the people you won’t find waving Mexican flags in downtown LA or holding “MASS DEPORTATION NOW” signs at the Republican National Convention. It’s also what the country needs to defuse a chronically destabilizing political issue and to help the economy grow.