Levels of "Civility" vs. Blatant Threats

I do understand the anger about the immigration issue - on both sides. Neither is arguing for hate and repression. Each side sees itself as the only thing that is standing between a vulnerable population and the Oppressive Hand of Government.

It's just that they disagree with who the victim is.

For the Pro-Open Borders people, the victims are those that trample over laws and regulations about Border Control. They believe that need - or, self-identified need - trump ANY national considerations. They point to the poem on the Statue of Liberty and their interpretations of the Bible to justify their position.

They are passionate about their cause. For them, this passion must mean that they are right.

The other side, in favor of the USA being in charge of when, how, and IF immigration shall take place, see the victims as those who can't get a job in a local economy swamped by illegal aliens. Whose children's education is hampered by the influx of non-citizens into their schools, taking up scarce resources, teachers' time, and overcrowding the English-speaking classes, so that ESL classes can remain small They are furious about the growth of MS-13 and other primarily non-citizen gangs, and the disruption to their community that the gang's presence causes. They object to courts treating citizens accused of crimes more severely than the non-citizens are handled.

They point to long-established national and international law to support their position, as well as to the Constitution, which gives the Executive Branch the responsibility for regulating and enforcing the borders.  They object to the UN-Equal representation that counting illegally-present persons in the Census gives those states which encourage their influx (number of Representatives, and Electoral Votes, is determined by the people present in the states - whether they have a right to be there, or not). They object to the local and state costs of Open Borders, and - because the Federal government returns to the states much of the income tax money collected - based, in part, on population (legal or not), the states that facilitate and encourage Open Borders get more than their share of the Federal Budget.

The passion one side feels does NOT justify blatant threats against opponents of Open Borders. And, yet, this is what Progressives are doing, whether activist, politician, or those in the media.