Four Big Ways Democrats Prioritize Illegal Aliens Over American Citizens

A common joke among conservatives goes something like this: “I am going to renounce my citizenship and become an illegal alien so I get free healthcare, housing, welfare, and college tuition.” All good jokes have some truth to them – especially so in this case. Democrats really do treat illegal aliens better than hardworking, taxpaying citizens. Here are just a few examples that should outrage every American.

Special treatment for criminal illegal aliens

The swift and fair enforcement of laws protects the rights of citizens to live safely and without fear in their homes and communities. But Democrat prosecutors have made it a point to minimize criminal charges against illegal aliens lest it trigger a deportation.

Among the most egregious culprits of this betrayal is Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano. His office has routinely either let violent illegal aliens out of jail or downgraded their charges to help them avoid deportation. During his most recent campaign for the job, Descano made a specific pledge to “make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences.”

This policy has had tragic consequences for Virginia residents. Earlier this year, 41-year-old mom Stephanie Minter was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Fairfax County by Abdul Jalloh, an illegal alien from Sierra Leone. Jalloh had an extensive criminal record, including convictions for malicious wounding, identity theft, trespassing, and assault. But he was back on the streets anyway thanks to Descano.

In a separate case, as a local ABC affiliate reported, “two illegal immigrant men pleaded guilty to murdering a man in Fairfax County in 2024. They faced up to 40 years in prison. But they are now set to serve only five years behind bars. The reason why the two men will be serving five years behind bars for murder is that Descano’s office offered them a generous plea deal. And both men took it.”

An eye-opening letter from the Law Enforcement Defense Fund to the Department of Justice documents another instance in which Descano downgraded felony charges against Guatemalan national Wilmer Giron. Despite Giron’s prior firearm convictions, Descano let him off with just two months in prison after he allegedly “strangled and threatened his children’s mother with a knife.”

The Department of Justice opened an investigation into Descano, and he has been called before the House Judiciary Committee to testify. But Republican members of the committee say that Descano has stonewalled, refusing to hand over information on his office’s prosecutorial decisions.

While Descano may be one of the worst offenders, he’s hardly the only far-left district attorney who views it as his personal mission to protect criminal illegal aliens rather than prosecute them.

In 2017, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez created “a new policy aimed at minimizing collateral immigration consequences of criminal convictions, particularly for misdemeanor and other low-level offenses.” His office also hired immigration attorneys “to advise prosecutors” on how to avoid charges that could lead to deportations.

“Now more than ever, we must ensure that a conviction, especially for a minor offense, does not lead to unintended and severe consequences like deportation, which can be unfair, tear families apart, and destabilize our communities and businesses,” Gonzalez said.

No matter how dangerous or violent an illegal alien is, it seems, Democrats are determined to keep them in the country, even if it means releasing them back on the streets to continue terrorizing law-abiding citizens.

Ignoring health and safety rules to keep illegal aliens out of trouble

Illegal alien food vendors, who also often are operating their stands and carts illegally, are given a free pass in Democrat cities like Karen Bass’s Los Angeles. Meanwhile, law-abiding American citizens who own legal restaurants must deal with mountains of fees and red tape just to be able to sell a burger and a beer to locals and tourists.

The see-no-evil approach by Bass puts everyone at risk. According to the New York Post, there were “9,746 public health complaints about street food vendors filed across Los Angeles County from 2023 until early 2026.” The county oversees the public health requirements, but Bass ordered the Los Angeles Police Department not to ticket “unpermitted” vendors.

In one disgusting example, a dog was reportedly seen eating meat directly out of a bag at one food stand, and the meat was then served to customers. The county simply closed the case without any further intervention.

“If you’re in the United States illegally and operating a business illegally, you get a free pass,” Breitbart reported. “If you are a citizen, you must follow all the rules or face fines and even closure.”

Taking away gas-powered leaf blowers from Americans, but not illegal aliens

In April 2023, the wealthy Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois banned residents and their landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers, citing concerns about noise and “climate change.”

However, the city froze enforcement of the ban due to concerns that many Hispanic landscapers might be here illegally – and thus could face immigration consequences for violating the ban.

It may seem a small matter, but this case speaks to a larger point about Democrats’ priorities. They were completely fine forcing Americans to replace their reliable gas-powered leaf blowers with more expensive, less convenient battery-powered tools. But as soon as liberals in Evanston got wind that the law might cause difficultly for illegal aliens, they quickly reversed course.

Apparently, protecting illegal aliens from deportation is even more important than “saving the planet.”

In-state tuition for illegal aliens, not Americans

For years, states have been offering illegal aliens better tuition rates at public universities than the rates offered to American citizens. Shockingly, this has been a bipartisan betrayal of American students, with Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry becoming the first to offer in-state tuition to illegals in 2001.

Since Trump returned to the White House in 2025, his administration has been aggressively going after states that offer better tuition rates to illegal aliens who reside in the state than to out-of-state Americans. Texas, to its credit, quickly settled the lawsuit to end its discriminatory policies.

But still, states like Illinois, led by Democrat Governor JB Pritzker, and Minnesota, led by Democrat Tim Walz, continue to treat illegal aliens better than American students. That means an American citizen from Green Bay gets charged higher tuition at the University of Illinois than an illegal alien from Honduras who resides in Chicago – while federal taxpayers subsidize the school.

The cost savings are drastic. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, out-of-state Americans pay triple the tuition cost of those illegal aliens declared to be “residents” of Illinois. That can work out to an additional $80,000 for a four-year college degree.

While these are a few of the most egregious examples, they are hardly the only ones. The consistent pattern is that Democrats’ top priority is illegal aliens, while American citizens are treated as second-class. Citizens pay the taxes, follow the rules, and absorb the costs. Illegal aliens receive all the benefits.

The issue at stake here is bigger than immigration. A representative government cannot function when politicians decide that the interests of people who are not citizens matter more than the interests of the citizens they were elected to serve.

That turns the basic idea of republican government on its head. Elections exist to enforce accountability. When public officials bend laws, benefits, and basic standards of fairness for favored groups while citizens are told to pay the bill and follow the rules, it jeopardizes the very foundations of American democracy.