President Donald Trump and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller are seizing on Spain’s Ceuta migrant crisis as a warning of what they say could happen in the United States if Democrats win future elections. The push comes after some 60,000 migrants entered Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast, from neighboring Morocco over a 24-hour period, with more than 40 people dying.
“It’s terrible. Remember that picture. That’s going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in,” Trump told Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich on Friday. “If the Democrats get in, you will not live a very good life.” Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesus Vivas, confirmed the arrival figures to the Associated Press.
Miller, in a social media post reposting video of migrants breaching Spain’s border, wrote that the “Democrats did this to America every single day for 4 years under Biden” and “will do it again instantaneously, but orders of magnitude greater, if they are given any form of national power.” He added: “Democrats will see your home trampled and stolen by invaders and they will rejoice.”
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Ceuta on Friday and condemned the mass crossing, blaming human smugglers. “They deceive so many young people, and ultimately lead many of them to their deaths, whether in the ocean or, as in this case, at Spain’s border in the autonomous city of Ceuta,” Sanchez said, according to the Associated Press.
Immigration was a defining issue for Republicans in the 2024 election cycle, with Trump vowing to ramp up enforcement. He has since deported hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the country illegally and sent federal troops to several US cities to crack down on illegal immigration, and Republicans hope to carry that momentum into the 2026 midterms.
An NPR analysis of advertising data found Republicans are spending more money and running more ads on immigration than Democrats. Since the beginning of the year, the GOP and its affiliated organizations have run close to 300 ads nationwide that are about or mention immigration.
The Ceuta episode has become a flashpoint in European politics as well, with other EU leaders reacting to the strain on Spain’s border. For the White House, the crisis offers a fresh script for the closing stretch of the midterm campaign, linking border security at home to developments abroad. Critics argue the comparison ignores the differences between the two situations, but the Trump team is betting the imagery will resonate with voters worried about immigration.
Sources: The Hill, The Guardian
Author: USA Desk
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