Winning lawsuits while losing the bigger fight

A court has struck down the Trump administration's ban on Harvard University enrolling foreign students. Yet Trump's judicial defeat does not weaken Trump — instead it reinforces to Americans that he is fighting for a popular policy while universities and courts (and Democrats) stand in the way.

Polls show that only 36% of Americans have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education (Gallup) and just 14% say college provides a clear financial return (College Investor). These numbers make it clear that America lacks confidence in institutes of higher learning.

On immigration, 55% of Americans say they want immigration levels reduced (Gallup). 62% say people trying to immigrate to the United States have "worse character" (Axios). 66% say they they support deporting immigrants (Ipsos). Clearly, the public mood is strongly anti-immigrant. 

As a result, politicians who challenge universities and take the maximalist position against immigrants are taking popular actions favored by a majority of people. 

This week, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem defined habeas corpus as a constitutional right for the president to remove people from the country. University-educated critics mocked Noem for not citing the literal meaning of the Latin term. Yet Americans aren't persuaded by technicalities. Instead, they see who is fighting for what they want and who is standing in their way.

To win this debate, Democrats need to champion universities and immigrants as essential to America's strength — they're part of what makes America great! — rather than seek to score points on semantics.

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