I think a lot of them don’t realize who is being categorized as illegal. Conservatives I know seen to be able to hold multiple conflicting ideas at the same time, e.g., hating immigrants but be friends with them on a one on one basis. I don’t think they actually see the problem with that.

Anyway, I think a lot of centrists especially take “illegal” and “criminal” at face value. You can see the argument for deporting people that shouldn’t have been here to begin with. The difference is that we’re seeing a very loose definition of those terms being applied by authorities. Innocent people are being targeted and treated as terrorists.

I think a lot of them don’t realize this, or refuse to believe it. You will see them online saying “Come to America. You have nothing to worry about if your papers are in order and you haven’t done anything wrong.”

This is just my impression of things. People are different and it’s a big country.