While DNC speakers were less reactionary than RNC speakers, especially regarding domestic issues, there was a right-wing turn among the Democrats regarding immigration that even the corporate media noticed.

An Aug. 21 Newsweek article was entitled, “Democrats Show Rightward Shift on Immigration at the DNC.” The Los Angeles Times article that same day had this headline: “On Immigration, Democrats shift message to combat GOP attacks.”

The DNC featured several anti-migrant speakers who bragged about working with Congressional Republicans on a strict bipartisan “border security bill,” and they all blamed Trump for its failure to pass. At times, some DNC speakers sounded more like racist vigilantes and border agents than liberals rallying for an election victory.

One such speaker was Javier Salazar, the presiding sheriff of Bexar County, Texas. Dressed in his uniform and brandishing a badge on his chest, Salazer promised the DNC crowd that a Kamala Harris administration would be “tougher” on migration than another Trump administration. Salazar told the crowd, “Harris has been fighting border crime for years.” (San Antonio Report, Aug. 21)

One DNC keynote speaker who evoked anti-immigrant rhetoric was New York Congress Member Tom Souzzi. In fact, Souzzi flipped many Republican voters in his historically conservative Long Island district by campaigning against “sanctuary cities” and demonizing migrant families. He told the DNC delegates: “The border is broken. But this year, when Democrats and Republicans worked together to finally write new border laws, we were blocked.” (CBS News, Aug. 21)

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy was another presenter who echoed similar statements as Salazar and Souzzi, blaming Trump for “killing” their “bipartisan border bill. Murphy said, “It would have had unanimous support if it weren’t for Donald Trump.” (Forbes, Aug. 23)

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The ruling capitalist class knows it needs the labor of undocumented workers and is happy to superexploit them. But it is more important to the capitalists’ overall class interests to maintain divisions within the working class. The bosses rely on the strategy of divide and conquer, which means supporting propaganda that keeps workers pitted against one another — and especially on keeping workers who are citizens believing that the enemy is the migrant worker and not the boss.

Both U.S. capitalist political parties are fanning the flames of anti-immigrant frenzy to divide working-class voters and pander to backward segments of the electorate. The RNC platform explicitly dehumanizes migrants and has very little to say about permitting “legal” migration. While slightly less vile in their attacks on migrants, the DNC program sent a clear message that they are campaigning on a much more restrictive approach towards immigration than they did just four years ago.