LIZ PEEK: Here’s how Trump can rebound and become one of the presidential greats

Never — ever — count President Trump out.

After begging voters to "pretend" he was on the ballot, Trump got socked with a monster rebuke, one of the worst midterm drubbings ever. But the same man who sprang up shouting "fight!" after surviving an assassin’s bullet, and who came back from political Siberia to win the popular vote in 2024, will not go quietly into the night.

President Trump wants to be one of the greatest presidents of all time, not just to his MAGA base, but to all Americans. How could he do that? By finally fixing our broken immigration system.

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To be considered great, a president must leave the U.S. permanently changed for the better. FDR created our nation’s safety net to counteract economic downturns, for instance, while Ronald Reagan ended the decades-long Cold War by driving the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Coming up with a balanced approach to immigration, an issue that has bedeviled our country for the past century or longer, is in the same league.

President Trump admitted on "60 Minutes" the other night that his immigration program had gone too far. In particular, he said that while he thought his administration got "high marks" for "getting the bad ones out," he got hurt "because we also took people that had good jobs, that — that created one violation, or breaking of the law, and that was that they came into the country illegally."

The president is correct. Early in his second term, over half the country signaled their approval of Trump’s successful closure of our wide-open southern border and the deportation of gang members and other illegal criminals. But, as aggressive ICE raids into immigrant communities brought fear and ultimately violence, attitudes shifted. By the time voters handed Democrats a landslide win last week, RealClearPolling averages showed Trump’s approval on immigration underwater by more than 10 points.

As I’ve written repeatedly, the vast majority of Americans — Republicans and Democrats — support legal immigration. Most citizens came from somewhere else and applaud those who follow. That said, Americans were appalled to watch thousands of migrants cross the southern border illegally every day while Joe Biden was president; allowing millions to enter the country unvetted, unvaccinated and undocumented was criminal. Trump’s promise to secure the border was a major reason he was elected in 2024, but he took that win as a mandate to eject everyone who was in the U.S. illegally. That was not only impractical, it was a profound misreading of the country’s attitudes towards immigration.

In January of this year, I argued on Fox News that the White House’s overreach on immigration might cost Republicans the House in the midterms, and here we are. Some think that in choosing Stephen Miller, reportedly the author of Trump’s aggressive deportation program, as his chief of staff, the president is indicating that the harsh approach will continue. That could be wrong.

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Just as it took ardent anti-communist President Richard Nixon to open up China, it might take ardent anti-immigrant Stephen Miller to help President Trump fix what is broken. If the administration presented a sensible and fair program to the public, Democrats would dismiss it at their peril.

The challenge is enormous. But there is a way:

1) First, the GOP and the White House must present a program that will continue to attract the best and the brightest to our country while not putting our own citizens at a disadvantage. Instead of allowing entry based on family sponsorship (chain migration) or through the unpopular diversity visa program, which the White House has attempted to eliminate, establish a point-based merit system that prioritizes skills and capability, such as that used in Canada. In 2019, Trump proposed such an approach; it is the right way to go.

2) Second, the president must provide a path to legal status for those living in the country illegally but who have built lives here and committed no crime beyond their initial entry. Grant those people an opportunity to become registered legal aliens. Determine that they will never be citizens, but they will emerge from the shadows, work and pay taxes legally. This is not "amnesty," but the attainment of legal status which should win the support of Democrats and the country.

3) Third, since about half of undocumented people living in the U.S. have not entered illegally but instead overstayed their visas, securing the border, though essential, is not good enough. Additionally, Congress must require that all employers use E-Verify, a free government-provided service, to screen out workers in the U.S. illegally. Migrants mostly come for economic opportunity; if they cannot work, they will go home. Meanwhile, if we need more seasonal workers, increase the number of visas.

4) Fourth, we must eliminate the benefits and enticements, from free healthcare to birthright citizenship, that encourage illegal immigration. If someone attains legal status, they have a right to put their kids in school and apply for healthcare insurance; if they forgo that opportunity, they should be denied such taxpayer-provided services. The Trump White House attempted to end birthright citizenship by executive order, but the Supreme Court narrowly declared the rule illegal. Congress needs to change the law.

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5) Finally, we must stop including illegals in the census. Including undocumented people rewards politicians like those governing California and New York, who purposefully attract illegals with benefits, since it leads to more federal aid and more House seats and Electoral College votes for their states.

No immigration program can gain traction unless it is backed by a solid commitment to border security. Trump has shown that preventing illegal immigration does not require a wall; it requires a will. Reforming immigration will require much more: dedication to our country’s security and sovereignty.

President Trump should roll out a newer, better plan, and challenge the Democrats to stop it. It would be the ultimate deal.