This much may be obvious, but it needs to be said: Everything our current president does is an invitation to a fight. That seems to be his entire playbook.
I don’t think he really cares one way or another about illegal immigration, or pretty much any other issue that does not directly affect his own power or his own pocketbook.
As it happens, rounding up immigrants like they are cattle makes for a perfect wedge issue to inflame his political opponents, and his approach to any situation is to inflame his opponents. Because when people are enraged, they are generally not thinking clearly or strategically.
So what Democrats need to do, immediately, is to condemn any and all violence, no matter how heated the issue. Right away that will take away a large amount of his power to win through the process of inflammation.
I think Mark Twain said it best:
“Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”