The Dictatorship
Trump’s mass deportation policy becomes a meandering moving target
One of the many problems with the policy surrounding Donald Trump’s trade tariffs is there doesn’t appear to be much of a policy. The president certainly makes all kinds of announcements, but in literally dozens of instancesthey’re followed by revised announcements and reversals.
On an international scale, no one — business owners, consumers, investors, foreign officials, et al. — seems to have any idea what to expect from the White House, and for good reason: The entire agenda is an erratic messshaped by an unpredictable and inexperienced politician with a limited understanding of the underlying dynamics.
Trump’s approach to deportations is starting to look awfully similar. Consider a timeline of recent events:
Wednesday, June 11, in the afternoon: White House border czar Tom Homan told Semafor that the administration plans to intensify its campaign of targeting undocumented immigrants at U.S. worksites, adding that enforcement operations “are going to massively expand.”
Thursday, June 12, in the morning: In a rare acknowledgement, the president conceded that his mass deportation agenda is hurting farmers and the domestic hospitality industry. “Changes are coming!” he concluded in an online statement.
Thursday, June 12, in the afternoon: White House officials said no changes are coming to the administration’s mass deportation agenda, and Trump published a series of follow-up items to his social media platform celebrating Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its agents.
Friday, June 13, in the morning: On the heels of the White House saying the deportation policy wouldn’t change, administration officials directed ICE to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants. NBC News also reported that a senior ICE official “advised agents to stop arresting undocumented people who are not known to have committed crimes.”
Sunday, June 15, in the evening: After taking apparent steps to moderate policy, Trump swung back in a retaliatory directiondirecting federal immigration officials to target communities led by Democratic elected officials, while ordering ICE agents “to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”
As part of a 400-word online rantthe president wrote that “nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People.” From the same ridiculous and conspiratorial statement, published to the Republican’s social media platform:
[W]e must expand efforts to detain and deport Illegal Aliens in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where Millions upon Millions of Illegal Aliens reside. These, and other such Cities, are the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens. These Radical Left Democrats are sick of mind, hate our Country, and actually want to destroy our Inner Cities — And they are doing a good job of it! There is something wrong with them. That is why they believe in Open Borders, Transgender for Everybody, and Men playing in Women’s Sports — And that is why I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role.
Evidently, Trump envisions a system in which ICE agents have something to do with preventing transgender students from playing sports, which seems new.
In a subsequent paragraph, Trump reiterated his support for “remigration” — which has widely been described as a racist policy popular with right-wing figures in Europe — before concluding, “To ICE, FBI, DEA, ATF, the Patriots at Pentagon and the State Department, you have my unwavering support. Now go, GET THE JOB DONE!”
Trump’s tirade does not lend itself to serious policy analysis, but by all appearances, it seems the president wants to target undocumented workers in blue states (Democratic strongholds), while easing off employers hiring undocumented workers in red states (Republican strongholds). Indeed, he specifically declared as part of his harangue, “You don’t hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!”
What will the White House’s agenda look like in another day or two? It’s anyone’s guess. That’s one of the many problems surrounding this regressive, damaging and unpopular mess.
Steve Benen is a producer for “The Rachel Maddow Show,” the editor of MaddowBlog and an BLN political contributor. He’s also the bestselling author of “Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans’ War on the Recent Past.”