Frank Sharry

Opinion contributor

When President Donald Trump kicks off his reelection campaign Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, expect him to do what he does in every rally: Demonize immigrants, puff up his strongman persona, and bask in “build the wall” chants. He does so because he believes that immigration is a political winner. Many pundits agree with him.

As an expert in immigration policy and politics, I have a different take. If Democrats are deft and daring, they can transform immigration into his Achilles' heel.

In the world according to Trump, his 2016 campaign rode racism and xenophobia to victory. In the 2018 midterms, he doubled down, invoking caravans filled with criminals and terrorists and producing an ad so racist even Fox News wouldn’t air it. Republicans suffered the largest midterm popular-vote defeat in American history.

A wiser president would get it: His obsession with immigration fires up his core supporters but backfires badly with everyone else. Encouraged by White House whisperer Stephen Miller, Trump refuses to let up. Since the midterms, he has demanded billions for his border wall, shuttered the government for 35 days, declared a national emergency of dubious constitutionality, sent troops to the border, decapitated the Department of Homeland Security's leadership, and threatened economic warfare to get Mexico to (pretend to?) bend the knee.

Voters agree with Democrats on immigration

Nevertheless, the numbers of families arriving at the border are sky high. His border strategy is as ineffective as it is cruel.

Meanwhile, at Trump rallies, he tells his followers that he is “finishing the wall” (he’s not) and calls Democrats the party of “open borders and crime” (they’re not). Yes, in 2020 he’s going to run, and run hard, on xenophobia.

What should Democrats do?

First, Democrats should recognize that the public is with them, not Trump. A majority ofvoters believe that immigration is good for America, object to Trump’s race-baiting divisiveness, reject the practice of ripping toddlers from parents and putting kids in cages, oppose his border wall, and want Congress to create a line for undocumented immigrants to get into — with "Dreamers" and Temporary Protected Status holders in front.

Immigration backfire:Republicans embraced Trump's scare tactics and paid a high political price

Second, beyond calling out the failure of Trump’s cruelty-and-chaos strategy at the border, Democrats need to propose pragmatic solutions of their own. Among the elements: Hire enough adjudicators and lawyers so Central Americans seeking asylum have fair, orderly and efficient hearings — a fair chance, not a free pass. Launch a regional refugee resettlement initiative — away from the border — to rescue eligible refugees through an orderly application, acceptance and admissions program. And address the root causes of migration from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador so that over time, it is safer for families to stay home than to risk the dangerous journey to America.

Third, Democrats need to proudly advocate for a properly regulated 21st century immigration system. This would involve putting the nation’s 11 million hardworking undocumented immigrants on a path to legal status and eventual citizenship by creating a line and establishing requirements; improving and making more flexible a legal immigration system that reunites families and meets legitimate labor demands at all skill levels, within clear and adjustable annual limits; and in addition to smart and accountable border security, focusing enforcement on bad actors, from criminal smugglers to public safety threats to unscrupulous employers.

Fourth, and speaking of unscrupulous employers, Democrats should realize that Trump is not just a failure, he’s a fraud. As a politician, Trump rages against undocumented immigrants to score points. As a businessman, he hires undocumented immigrants and steals their wages to make profits.

Don't fear this fight, take it to Trump

Trump’s duplicity was first exposed last December in The New York Times when Victorina Morales, Sandra Diaz and other workers from the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, came forward to tell their stories of hard work, low pay, no benefits and unfair treatment.

The Washington Post exposed Trump’s reliance on undocumented immigrants at Trump enterprises in New York and uncovered a “pipeline” of undocumented workers from Costa Rica to build the Bedminster property.

Univision recently reported that Trump’s winery in Virginia hired undocumented workers who worked “long hours from sunrise to sunset, without overtime pay.”

GOP women say money can help:Invest in Central American women to ease border crisis

The president’s son Eric, nominally in charge of the family business, has rushed in to cover up the Trump Organization’s misdeeds by discarding the exploited workers, mostly through the introduction of E-Verify, a voluntary program that lets employers check the legal status of employees. Meanwhile, his father has displeased the nativist right by expressing opposition to E-Verify. Evidently, the habits of an old school lawless employer die hard.

Finally, Democrats need to expose Trump’s cynical motivation for obsessing about immigration. He wants to get voters focused on blaming “the other” so he can keep them from focusing on kitchen-table issues — health care, retirement security, fair wages and more — that favor Democrats. He lines the pockets of his super wealthy friends, picks the pockets of ordinary Americans, and points the finger at brown and black immigrants. This is nothing less than the strategic use of racism in the service of plutocracy.

Democrats need not fear this fight with Trump. They need to take it to him. Because on his signature issue, Democrats support solutions that hit the mark with the majority of Americans, while Trump is an abject failure and a world-class hypocrite.

Frank Sharry is the founder and executive director of America’s Voice. Follow him on Twitter: @FrankSharry.