Immigration has been at the forefront of public conversation for much of the last week.  Following the North Korean summit and a DOJ inspector general report that would have almost assuredly allowed President Trump and his allies to go on the offense, the issue of separating children from their parents at the border came front and center.

As the coverage of the "zero tolerance" policy at the border spread, the public outcry grew louder.  After the public pressure grew so intense, even from the right side of the aisle, President Trump signed an executive order with the aim of reuniting children with their parents by reuniting and detaining illegal border-crossing adults together with their children as a family. 

Prior to President Trump signing the executive order, Chuck Schumer vowed to vote against any Republican plan to fix the problem, stating that President Trump could fix the problem with a stroke of his pen.  Senator Schumer got his wish. 

In their reaction to President Trump's zero tolerance policy, outraged liberals like Schumer were either quick to forget or conveniently ignored facts of the past.  For example, there was no outrage when a federal judge in California called the conditions of detained children "deplorable" under the Obama administration.  Nor was there any outrage when a picture depicting two children in a holding cell went viral on the internet, only to later find out it was from 2014 under then-President Obama. 

What liberals were not quick to forget was their end goal of open borders and unlimited immigration – a goal they were not so subtle about advocating for within minutes of President Trump signing his executive order.  Senators and representatives alike all followed similar talking points to what Sen. Kamala Harris tweeted, saying: "This Executive Order doesn't fix the crisis.  Indefinitely detaining children with their families in camps is inhumane and will not make us safe."

This reaction shouldn't come as a surprise.  "Leaders" of the Democratic Party have not been shy about their stances on open borders.  Chairman of the DNC Keith Ellison was even spotted wearing a shirt stating, "I don't believe in borders" written in Spanish.

There has been years of neglect on the issue of immigration from Democrats, including at a time when they controlled the White House and the House and had a 60-vote majority in the Senate.  Now, we are seeing a concerted effort by Democrats, along with help from their friends in the media, to drum up a frenzy on immigration and lay the blame squarely at the feet of President Trump.  The hope of the left seems to be that the public pressure begins to weigh so heavily that President Trump decides to handle the issue through executive order.

It is clear that Democrats are pushing this issue as a last-ditch effort to save what once looked to be a promising midterm election cycle.  But there may be another ulterior motive for pushing immigration, and for pressuring President Trump to use the power of the pen.

According to a new CBS news poll, 63 percent of Americans in competitive congressional districts think those crossing illegally should be immediately deported or arrested.  This is undoubtedly contrary to the views expressed by the Democratic Party.

However, Democrats have not lost hope of advancing their immigration policies.  They witnessed firsthand over the last two years just how effective President Trump has been in diminishing much of President Obama's work that was done through executive order.  The hope of Democrats today is that they can do the same to President Trump.

The vision of Democrats is that a radical, left-wing candidate can beat President Trump in the 2020 election and undo any of his executive orders.  This is the reason Democrats keep punting on the idea of dealing with immigration as it should be dealt with – in Congress. 

Those on the left know that the voters overwhelmingly side against much of their policy on immigration.  Enacting legislation will be problematic with voters.  If Trump simply deals with immigration through the use of executive order, it keeps open the Democratic hope of a far-left president getting elected and opening the door for executive orders, essentially undoing whatever Trump does and enacting his own open borders immigration policy.

Certainly, there is genuine care by Democrats about the children who are placed in limbo due to the actions of their parents of bringing them here illegally.  Most Republicans share that concern.  However, Democrats making the claim that President Trump is using children as political pawns is, at the very least, hypocritical. 

While they posture as though this is all about the children, if that were the case, Democrats in Congress would be eager to vote on legislation to remedy the situation.  They have been the opposite.  This desire for inaction lends itself to the natural conclusion that Democrats like Schumer, Harris, and Pelosi actually have an alternative agenda when it comes to immigration. 

They want to use the issue as a rallying cry for the November midterms. N ot only that, but they hope any action on immigration comes from the pen of President Trump, leaving any policy open to change via a possible open-borders replacement for President Trump – knowing full well that this is contrary to the desires of the majority of Americans.

They say to know someone's true feelings, watch what they do, not what they say.  So, regardless of what Democrats in Congress might say, their unwillingness to properly secure our border and legislate on immigration makes their true desires crystal-clear.  Their endgame is open borders, which has become evident over the last eight years.  Don't for one second let them convince you otherwise.

Evan Berryhill is a former communications staffer on Capitol Hill for Rep. David McKinley.  Currently, Evan is a law student at West Virginia University and works as a freelance writer.  You can follow him on Twitter @EvBerryhill.