Examining the double standard in public activism through the lens of responsibility and real-world impact.
Articulated Insight – “News, Race and Culture in the Information Age”
In today’s political theater, one of the most perplexing performances is the sudden emergence of immigration advocates who once proudly supported Donald Trump. These are individuals who, just a few years ago, cheered for border walls, voted for policies that tore families apart, and justified travel bans with nativist talking points. Now, they’re showing up at rallies, partnering with immigrant-led groups, and declaring themselves allies.
Some call it growth. I call it opportunism.
From 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration launched a relentless assault on immigrants. Thousands of children were separated from their families under the so-called “zero tolerance” policy. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program faced repeated legal threats. Refugee admissions were slashed to their lowest levels in modern history. A travel ban targeted Muslim-majority countries. These policies were not accidental—they were central to Trump’s platform, promoted with pride and embraced by millions of voters.
To now witness some of those same voters attempting to recast themselves as champions of immigrant rights is not just ironic—it’s harmful.
Advocacy without accountability isn’t advocacy. It’s rebranding.
This phenomenon echoes a pattern long recognized by Black Americans. Throughout history, we’ve seen people benefit from systems that harm us, only to attempt to reinsert themselves as supporters once those systems begin to shift. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned in his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, “the white moderate” who prefers order over justice can be a greater stumbling block to progress than overt racists.
We see this dynamic repeating now in the immigration space. Immigrant communities—especially Black and Brown immigrants—are still reeling from years of exclusionary policies and dehumanizing rhetoric. Their trauma is real and unresolved. Yet, some of the very people who helped enable that trauma now seek to stand in solidarity without ever taking responsibility for their prior complicity.
That’s not solidarity—it’s appropriation.
Some former Trump supporters argue that their views have evolved. And to be clear, political transformation is possible. People change. But meaningful change requires more than a shift in rhetoric. It requires honesty about past harms, a willingness to listen rather than lead, and a commitment to materially support the communities they once disregarded.
This is not about gatekeeping. It’s about integrity.
If you stood by during the family separation crisis, if you stayed silent while refugees were turned away, if you voted for a platform that painted immigrants as threats—then claiming the title of advocate now, without a public reckoning, is not just premature. It’s a form of harm.
Because immigrant communities don’t need saviors. They need systems to change. They need equitable access to legal protections, humane treatment at borders, and the opportunity to live with dignity. What they don’t need is to be used as backdrops for personal redemption stories.
This same pattern plays out in how America often treats Black pain. For generations, Black suffering has been commodified—whether through political campaigns invoking civil rights imagery without committing to racial justice, or through corporations that market diversity without addressing structural inequities.
Now, immigrant pain risks being similarly sanitized and sold, especially by those who once had no issue with the policies that caused it.
True allyship is uncomfortable. It involves stepping back, relinquishing control, and redirecting resources. It’s about asking not “How can I lead?” but “How can I serve?” And, more importantly, “Am I willing to follow?”
So to those seeking to move from complicity to solidarity, here’s what that work requires:
Name the harm. Be explicit about how your vote or silence contributed to real consequences.
Center immigrant voices. Support immigrant-led organizations without overshadowing them.
Support policy change. Push for legislation that protects undocumented individuals, expands refugee access, and ends family detention—not just in name, but in action.
Resist the spotlight. Your redemption arc should not take precedence over others’ lived experiences.
You don’t get to cheer for the fire and then call yourself a firefighter. And you don’t get to rewrite your political history without the consent of those harmed by it.
In this critical moment—when immigration remains a political flashpoint and human rights continue to hang in the balance—we need advocates rooted in justice, not image. We need courage, not convenience.
There is room for transformation. But it starts with humility, not headlines.
#CivicDuty #OpEd #SocialResponsibility
