Democrats Are Splintered On Immigration And How To Respond To Trump

When Donald Trump took office in 2017 with promises to crack down on immigration, he was met by widespread protests that filled churches, airports and union halls as Democratic lawmaker vowed to fight the new Republican president at every turn.

The second time around, Democrats helped send an immigration bill to his desk during his first week in office.

Stinging from election losses , the Democratic Party has so far been splintered in responding to Trump's push against illegal immigration. Yet the party's soul searching comes as the stakes could hardly be higher. The new president is acting to seal off the U.S.-Mexico border border to asylum seekers and deport millions of immigrants who do not have permanent legal status.

"I think Donald Trump has painted the Democratic Party into a corner on immigration, and it's going to take us a while to get out of the corner," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo. "I want us acting out of conviction about what we believe about immigration rather than out of fear."

Looking for areas of agreement with Trump