the reality is that clamping down on immigrants is POPULAR in the united states. this is a perfect example of the tyranny of the majority, where a populist policy is used to clamp down on a minority and increase the government's power.
i don't feel that the people opposing these policies fully grasp this. the average american has absolutely no interest in the plight of the american immigrant, except to complain about how they "stole their job" and *should* be thrown out of the country.
to make it worse, the reality is that ice isn't even restricting itself to immigrants - illegal or not - at this point. american citizens that happen to be hispanics are getting deported. it's not because they're illegal immigrants (they're not immigrants at all), but because they're not considered to be white. when you extrapolate this, you get to the core of it. it's a "white america" policy.
...and it has OVERWHELMING SUPPORT in some areas. for the president to stand up against this would mean damaging his political prospects, or the political prospects of his party.
so, the guy shows up and blames it on the republicans to it's much smaller left-leaning constituency, all the while knowing it's a populist strategy that they're pushing in order to get votes. the white house no doubt has other spokespeople that they send around to other constituencies to take credit for their softer, gentler and very ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.
they'll talk about the dems getting 70% of the hispanic vote or whatever, but they've got a hobson's choice. they know that as bad as the democrats are, the republicans will be worse. and the democrats are just tightening the screws....
what is left remains merely the hope that the fascist with the d beside his name might be a little less brutal.