Just to provide some context for people, to remind people why Trump has made ICE and CBP act so aggressively, why they have been so rushed and sloppy, why the standards have dropped so much in terms of expectations for agents and what training they undergo, it started with this.
While campaigning, President-elect Donald Trump promised “On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program of criminals in the history of America.” He referenced 1954’s “Operation Wetback,” an effort ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Government estimates showed more than a million mostly Mexican immigrants and some U.S. citizens were rounded up. The program got its official name from a racist term for Mexicans who swam or waded across the Rio Grande.
He also said he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to precipitate the removal of undocumented migrants from the U.S. and “dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil” at an Oct. 25 campaign rally.
Since then, we have seen them deport people who had been granted asylum in the country, ignore legal documentation proving citizenship, attempt to take over the National Guard to terrorize Democrat-run cities, murder protestors in Minneapolis, use deadly force against others that were suspected of being undocumented, and violate multiple parts of the US Constitution repeatedly. They are even drawing bipartisan criticism for trying to ignore or suspend the Second Amendment.
When Trump announced this, I didn’t think it was possible. I still don’t think it is. I didn’t realize what a nightmare it would create in the attempt, however.
I wanted to create this thread so that we can look at the consequences of his promises during the 2024 campaign run to fight the “border crisis” (a crisis largely invented by Republicans to scare people into voting for them), and how that is so badly harming this country and causing such extensive backlash.
3,000 a day, right?
See: Top-Down Management
Top-down leadership is the most common leadership style in organizations in the United States. It involves an “autocratic” approach in which major decisions on the direction, strategy, and actions of a company are made at the highest levels, with employees given tasks to complete.
Dictating, by decree, that you have that kind of numeric apprehension/detention/deportation goal (and we can safely assume the rest of this thought is spot-on) without anybody doing anything even remotely resembling … homework – eg,
- Where are we setting the bar for ‘worst of the worst?’
- How many of these people are in the country undocumented?
- Do we know their whereabouts?
- What would it take to detain them?
- What’s our tolerance for false positives?
- What does our PR program look like? How will we inform, and sell this to, the public? States? Cities? Immigration rights orginizations?
- What are the rules of engagement?
- Must/should they receive due process first?
- Do we have arrangements with their country of origin for their return?
- What will this cost?
- Is funding available and allocated? (Well and properly trained) Personnel? Facilities? Logistics?
I remember when Ross Perot ran for President. Among my chief concerns was that he had an autocrat’s personality, and probably didn’t hear “No” very often.
God, I miss him. He was “wrong within normal parameters” (and ‘all ears’).
Originally seen in the Pit:
U.S. District Judge Jerry Blackwell said he called Tuesday’s hearing to remind ICE and other federal agencies they are not above the law.
Big picture view:
“Some of this is of your own making because of non-compliance with orders,” Blackwell said.
Blackwell expressed frustration that people with no criminal records are being wrongfully detained even after judges have ordered their immediate release.
He said there are too many detainees and too many cases in the ongoing immigration operation that is clearly outpacing the logistics.
I have a tiny bit of sympathy for some of the people just trying to do their jobs, but no sympathy for the agencies as a whole ruining lives and breaking laws to meet insane political goals.