Deportation King
No Kings protest spurred by ICE raids - is Trump the 'King' of Deportation?
From the chart above, Trump’s first administration saw far fewer ‘removals’ than both Obama administrations and fewer overall deportations. ‘Removals’ garner the most attention as they are non-voluntary. ‘Returns’ are essentially voluntary and done by the person leaving. The last category is Title 42 which would put Biden in the overall lead, however, Biden sought to end Title 42 (which prevented entry for public health reasons during COVID).
At the end of April, Trump’s second administration had so far removed 139,000 illegal immigrants. If extrapolated over a four-year term, that would be about 2 million. That would see him surpass Obama but fall far short of the goal of removing the more than 10 million illegals that Trump and others claim entered the country during Biden’s watch. The Trump administration has been looking to boost the numbers, but legal challenges have hindered the process. Widespread protests also threaten to delay the deportations, but those that turn violent may end up driving support for Trump’s efforts.
Detractors of the protests have pointed to Obama’s record on deportation and wondered why was there no uproar when his administration removed so many? La Raza, for example, labeled Obama the ‘Deporter-in-Chief’ but where was the media and public outrage? Per the linked article, some of the removals during the Obama administration were from redefining what constituted a deportation.
Trump will most certainly exceed Obama’s numbers, even if they are inflated. However, unlike Trump, Obama did not have a predecessor who not only relaxed border enforcement but seemed to encourage illegal immigration. While it is tough to find agreement on how many illegals came into the country under Biden, the graph below from this article shows that the numbers increased dramatically.
Israel Attacks Iran - Nukes Now, Regime Next?
In a speech following a broad attack on Iranian nuclear programs, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu made an appeal to Iranian citizens. It went beyond just explaining the attacks but encouraged Iranian citizens that the time was ripe to overthrow the regime that is endangering their country.
Trump responded on social media, distancing the US from the attack but warning Iran about retaliation. Will the US get drawn into the conflict?
Trump Endorses Little
While he has not formally announced his re-election bid, Governor Little picked up the Trump endorsement. Who approached whom?