Oh, where to even start with this one? Grab that morning whiskey, folks, because The Nation has gone full tilt into the leftist fever dream with its latest plea for Joe Biden to issue a blanket pardon for illegal immigrants before Trump takes office.
Yes, you read that right. They want Uncle Joe, wobbling toward the White House exit, to pull a last-minute Hail Mary to “save democracy” by pardoning millions of people who entered the country illegally. The mental gymnastics on display here are worth a gold medal.
The Nation’s article is essentially one long screed against reality. It’s brimming with rage over Biden’s 2024 loss, Kamala Harris’s embarrassing political flop, and the Democrats’ general inability to govern without tripping over themselves. But amid the whining, there’s a “modest proposal” that’s as unserious as it is legally dubious: Biden should use his pardon power to shield illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, and even legal immigrants under Temporary Protected Status from deportation under Trump 2.0. Why? Because Trump’s policies are “fascist,” obviously.
Let’s pause for a second. Even the writer admits the legal grounds for such a sweeping pardon are shaky at best. Presidential pardons only apply to criminal offenses, and being in the country illegally is a civil matter. Translation? A pardon wouldn’t actually stop deportations—it’s a symbolic middle finger to Trump with zero practical impact. But hey, when has legal futility ever stopped Democrats from grandstanding?
The article’s moral argument is just as flimsy. It paints Trump’s border policies as a cartoonishly evil scheme to ethnically cleanse the country, complete with “brown-shirt raids” (because everything conservatives do is apparently “fascism” now). Never mind that deportations happen under every administration or that most Americans—including many Democrats—actually support secure borders. Facts are irrelevant when you’re busy shouting “xenophobia!” into the void.
But the political argument? Oh, it’s even more laughable. The Nation claims this hail-Mary pardon would “galvanize the anti-Trump opposition,” drawing comparisons to the protests against Trump’s early travel bans. They seem to forget that those protests fizzled out once people realized the bans weren’t the apocalyptic nightmare the media made them out to be. Likewise, a mass pardon would only energize Trump’s base, fueling their belief that Democrats are more interested in pandering to illegal immigrants than addressing the concerns of American citizens.
And let’s not ignore the sheer hypocrisy here. The article lambasts Democrats for being “craven” and “unimaginative” on immigration, yet it expects them to rally behind this legally dubious and politically suicidal stunt. Even Biden, who’s been far from a border hawk, knows better than to poke this particular bear on his way out the door. Harris, meanwhile, has been so invisible on immigration that her name might as well be a punchline at this point.
Ultimately, this is peak liberal fantasyland. It’s performative outrage dressed up as policy advice, aimed at a Democratic Party that’s floundering in the wilderness without a map. Biden’s presidency is limping to the finish line, and articles like this won’t change the fact that voters rejected his party’s vision—or lack thereof. Instead of looking inward and rethinking their priorities, the Left is doubling down on the same tired moral grandstanding that got them here in the first place.
How serious is this idea of a blanket pardon for illegal immigrants?@JeffClarkUS analyzes the proposal on Washington Watch. pic.twitter.com/jxyLGvrHmm
— Tony Perkins (@tperkins) December 12, 2024
The real kicker? Even the most die-hard pro-illegal-immigrant attorneys would likely laugh this idea out of the room. But hey, when you’re The Nation, facts and practicality don’t matter as long as you can keep screaming about “MAGA fascism.” Cheers to that morning whiskey—you’ll need it.
