Elvia Díaz

opinion columnist

The alt-right is demanding that everyone who is in the country illegally be deported — no exceptions. And the radical left is demanding no deportations at all — under any circumstances.

But everyone else seems to understand the complexities of the immigration flow necessary to sustain a robust labor force and a social structure that makes this country accommodating.

The reasonable voices, though, are being drowned out amid a national furor over immigration raids and high-profile deportations, leaving little space for serious analysis that can lead to a sustained and coordinated campaign against President Donald Trump’s draconian policies.

Trump’s dizzying attacks on anyone who disagrees with him and his frenzied governing style make it difficult to focus, but we’ve got to try.

The president’s new immigration directives making every undocumented immigrant a target makes it imperative and urgent to forge a united front.

We’ve got to put our differences aside and appeal to those who can influence Washington and reasonable people across the nation to put the brakes on Trump’s state police.

In Arizona, Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake are getting an earful from all sides. It’s tempting, myself included, to demand no deportations at all. But even the folks most sympathetic toward immigrants find it hard to defend those who have committed crimes.

We’ve reached a point when we must put up a united front against a Gestapo-type of persecution against people whose only crime is being here illegally. These are the mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters quietly working the fields, cleaning houses, cooking at restaurants, and students pursuing college degrees and professionals excelling in various fields.

RELATED: Arizona mom at center of immigration debate is deported

Let’s not forget former President Barack Obama deported more immigrants than any of his predecessors.

But this is different. Trump’s tactics are designed to sow fear and chaos by making it clear that no foreign-born person is safe.

He’s going after undocumented immigrants and immediately sending them back to their country of origin because they’re easy targets. But we’re already seeing signs that Trump won’t stop there and has already begun putting into jeopardy even U.S. citizens.

A CBS television station in Dallas this month reported about how an American renewing his passport was told to turn in his “green card,” which he never had because, alas, he was born in this country.

I’m sure Tony Airitam, the Brooklyn-born man swept up in the drama, will eventually get his passport renewed, but meanwhile he may have to miss traveling abroad as planned.

This is yet another example of the persecution against anyone and anything that’s not acceptable to the alt-right: immigrants, civil rights, women, voting rights, reproductive rights, free trade.

Many of us doubted Trump’s ability to round up an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, but we know now he has a clear plan.

And it may be much easier than we thought given that most undocumented immigrants live in 20 metropolitan areas, according to the Pew Research Center.

Topping the list with the largest undocumented population is New York, followed by Los Angeles and Houston, the center’s study based on government data concluded.

“In 2014, the 20 metro areas with most unauthorized immigrants were home to 6.8 million of them, or 61% of the estimated nationwide total. By contrast, only 36% of the total U.S. population lived in those metro areas,” the report said.

The Trump administration can easily focus on those cities to make his point and deport the largest number of immigrants.

A united front to stop Trump is through the courts — as the ACLU did with the travel ban — and appealing to moderate, sympathetic Republicans.

And equally important, there must be a massive voter registration and aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign. We must set our eyes to the midterm elections to change the makeup of Congress.

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.