"Best thing I’ve seen today is watching an ICE agent arrest somebody and send them back to where they came from." Small town Minnesotans reacting to ICE arrest.
My respect for the men and women within ICE grows with each day's removal and rendition of non-citizens back to their point of origin. May the population of Somalia grow by the thousands each day.
Powerful & informative article, thank you much for sharing. I too, agree with this 100% "The topic of illegal migrants is complex, and we should not boil it down to demonizing one group while elevating another group, depending on which side we are on.
Illegal migrants who have built lives here over a period of many years, who have no history of criminal behavior, should not be deported, that’s my opinion. Children who attend school, entire families, should not have to return to war-torn countries where they have no connections and could face severe hardship and death. And absolutely, children should not be separated from their parents." Blessings & Gratitude - in God we Trust ...
First: the NEA is a trade union not a government agency, so they can use legally acquired money in legal ways without answering to anyone, even if we don't like it.
According to the NYT today: "Our best analysis is that since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has deported about 540,000 people. This is fewer than in either of the last two years of the Biden administration. But Biden-era deportations mostly came at the border, where migration has nearly stopped. Trump’s arrests target people already inside the country. The administration has removed about 230,000 of them, already more than the Biden administration did in four years."
At that rate, it will take about 20 years to get rid of all illegals. Of course, there will be a point where the job will be declared done and the remainder will be allowed to stay. I'm in that minority that believes that is a complete failure. To say that some have no record and built lives here and therefore should be exempt, is just like saying that someone identified for a rape 25 years ago that has been a productive citizen since, should not have to face charges. Although not at the same degree of criminality, illegals have stolen from the lawful citizens of the US. Also, once the deportations stop and others are excused, the next wave will kick in, protected borders or not bolstered by the knowledge that non-criminals can stay. At the very least, illegals that are identified and not deported should be made to pay reparations, but that won't happen, so they are successful criminals.
Well, your response makes me angry. It's not the same as rape. Ask a rape victim and you will see.
Also, the NEA is an independent federal agency of the United States government.
If ICE or whomever can get rid of one illegal migrant who would otherwise rape or kill someone that is a win, although I agree it is impossible to get rid of everyone.
Comparing an illegal alien who goes on to become a heart surgeon who saves lives is not the same as an illegal alien who murders his neighbor. I can't believe you don't see the difference.
It's unfortunate that you're angry. I did not equate rape and being an illegal as to minimize rape, only to make the point that both are crimes and both ARE worthy of punishment at some level. I think you should reread my comment carefully. Or you can substitute, assault, money laundering, or whatever, to conceptually understand what I meant.
There is an example of a surgeon that came in illegally that I remember hearing about a few years ago. He's still a lawbreaker. (And BTW - many surgeons cause harm and are not "good people.") Do you believe that there should be a societal productivity test to determine which illegals should be deported and which can stay based on some government determination of social value? Maybe a social credit system score?
If you have info that the National Education Association is a government entity, please share it. It's a 501(c)(5) nonprofit so it can't be part of the government with that status. It may get grants that are repurposed, which is bad enough, but that's not government funding far-left political organizations.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a government agency.
I'm correcting this because I got the two NEA s mixed up.
As for illegal aliens I stated it is a crime. But not all crimes are equal. And my opinion is that since it is absurd to imagine ALL illegals can be deported, focus on the ones committing crimes and let the ones who have been here for years stay. I am not sure what you realistically think would be a better solution.
And of course, obviously there are bad surgeons and good surgeons, of all sorts. This is stating the obvious.
You stated "To say that some have no record and built lives here and therefore should be exempt, IS JUST LIKE SAYING that someone identified for a rape 25 years ago that has been a productive citizen since, should not have to face charges"
No, it isn't "just like saying"
It isn't the same.
For the courts to be filled to overflowing with people who are now productive citizens who came here illegally 20 years ago so they can now be "punished" is NOT the same as capturing a rapist after 20 years. In fact, taking money away from finding the rapist so that hundreds of thousands of people who have done nothing wrong for 10, 20, 30 years can be chased down and prosecuted and punished (what would that punishment be) would do more harm than good. You are not even taking into account how angry and unpopular that would be with the majority of Americans. These would be people who got married and had children, who did integrate into society, who have friends, who perform jobs.
I know how serious the crime of rape is and the consequences to the victim. I was making a comparison of legal principal only and could have picked another crime for illustration. I was not literally comparing the two acts.
The fact that people have been here illegally for a long time and have and will get away with it is the insidious nature of the crime. They have cost legal citizens plenty, so the fact that later they may be paying taxes and deemed by some as good people, is not an excuse. Untold numbers that have been here a long time are still living off the government and in the shadows. Plus, many legal immigrants want illegals out, even if they come from the same country.
I stated that most will not be deported, but if they could be, I support it. My grandparents had to follow every legality to get into this country and other non-criminal "good citizen" family members were denied the opportunity. The fact that others could walk across a border, especially during democrat administrations, doesn't excuse their illegal acts.
When the deportations mostly subside, plenty of criminals will have gotten away with sneaking in and staying. And as I said, the "good citizen" illegals will have set a precedent for another wave of non-criminal foreigners to sneak in, especially when the border monitoring subsides again in the future.
Still, who determines who a good citizen is? The US does not have access to records of most criminals that have come here, so how will their goodness or criminality be determined? Social credit score?
I don't know that anyone can have the perfect answer to all these questions. In a perfect world everyone would follow the law and there would be no criminals and no illegals but that's not the world we live in and so we have to find the best solutions we can. I tried in this essay to find the mkst realistic answers.
I appreciate that I'm sure you would like to do the same.
ICE is performing a crucial duty to the legal citizens of the US. They are empowered, by US law, to find and detain for exportation those who illegally entered the US. Even if illegals are not committing crimes against citizens, most are guilty of non-compliance with our laws. It is my understanding that ICE is concentrated on finding the worst of the criminal illegals. As it is likely that most are living among fellow illegals to blend in, ICE is likely to also encounter many of the more "benign" illegals. They are all guilty of violating our immigration laws. When a person illegally enters the US, they are setting themselves up to be deported at some point. Some of the lucky ones may have been here for decades, even being productive, but they are still here illegally, subject to deportation. We Americans may not be perfect citizens, but most are productive and support our laws and this country. Most of the illegals make no attempt to assimilate into our society. Many illegals are here to destroy our country, coming from countries that are our enemies. No borders=no country.
From the CATO link - which is organized horribly, giving percentages without actual numbers is misleading in the best of circumstances -
"The same ICE dataset shows that in November 2025, 70 percent of those who ICE deported had no criminal conviction, and 43 percent had no criminal conviction or criminal charge. Across all available datasets, it is clear that the Trump administration is not living up to its promises to deport millions and millions of criminals or to prioritize the worst of the worse. So far, the administration has removed barely 90,000 individuals with criminal convictions and fewer than 150,000 individuals with convictions or pending charges."
Supposedly about 2.5m have self deported, 150k is 6% of 2.5m. I would assume someone is detained before deportation when they show up at whatever location ICE is doing local processing at for their plane ticket and check. It sounds like CATO took the number of actual arrests before deportation, the people ICE has to chase essentially, and is comparing to everyone who SELF DEPORTED to try and make it sound like ICE is picking up everyone they can and not first and foremost targeting criminals.
The solution to illegal immigration is very simple - create a means for employers to verify employment eligibility (current system is woefully inadequate) and then enforce employment laws and increase fines on employers to levels where the risk becomes too high. As an example anyone picking up an illegal at a Home Depot should face vehicle confiscation.
Apart from a very small subset of refugees, employment is the only reason immigrants come. I have lived in Central America and the idea that one travels all the way to the US is unfounded as the violence is limited to certain regions. It would be the equivalent of someone living in south Chicago traveling to Switzerland and requesting asylum based on a fear of violence.
Of course neither party has the will to actually do this since they both greatly benefit.
I don’t think there should be degrees of illegality. The law has to be applied equally, or just stop making laws if they are so easily bent to serve one group of illegals over another group. By entering this country without permission, you are a criminal. That is the law. All should be removed and never allowed to return. Self-deportation with an avenue to apply for legal immigration is reasonable.
The Left has become completely arrogant in their belief that they are not only untouchable, but invincible. The 2020 Floyd riots, and Trump's complete impotence in stopping them, only emboldened them further. I have no pity for that humanoid who was shot dead while trying to run over an ICE agent. It is amazing to see lily-white communists protesting in the thousands for black Somali leeches and criminals. Why aren't they taking them into *their* rich homes? Why aren't they paying for them, clothing them, and feeding them? HYPOCRITES.
My respect for the men and women within ICE grows with each day's removal and rendition of non-citizens back to their point of origin. May the population of Somalia grow by the thousands each day.
Ditto. ICE protects us from being overrun by people who we did not allow in.
My sympathy is with the officers who endure the unfair criticism of fools who have more heart than brains.
Thank you for your balanced , well researched, and un-pc reports, thank you for being there
Thank you 🙏
Powerful & informative article, thank you much for sharing. I too, agree with this 100% "The topic of illegal migrants is complex, and we should not boil it down to demonizing one group while elevating another group, depending on which side we are on.
Illegal migrants who have built lives here over a period of many years, who have no history of criminal behavior, should not be deported, that’s my opinion. Children who attend school, entire families, should not have to return to war-torn countries where they have no connections and could face severe hardship and death. And absolutely, children should not be separated from their parents." Blessings & Gratitude - in God we Trust ...
Thank you. I know many will not agree with me.
When children are separated it is often the decision of the parent who chooses not to take their child when deported.
First: the NEA is a trade union not a government agency, so they can use legally acquired money in legal ways without answering to anyone, even if we don't like it.
According to the NYT today: "Our best analysis is that since Jan. 20, the Trump administration has deported about 540,000 people. This is fewer than in either of the last two years of the Biden administration. But Biden-era deportations mostly came at the border, where migration has nearly stopped. Trump’s arrests target people already inside the country. The administration has removed about 230,000 of them, already more than the Biden administration did in four years."
At that rate, it will take about 20 years to get rid of all illegals. Of course, there will be a point where the job will be declared done and the remainder will be allowed to stay. I'm in that minority that believes that is a complete failure. To say that some have no record and built lives here and therefore should be exempt, is just like saying that someone identified for a rape 25 years ago that has been a productive citizen since, should not have to face charges. Although not at the same degree of criminality, illegals have stolen from the lawful citizens of the US. Also, once the deportations stop and others are excused, the next wave will kick in, protected borders or not bolstered by the knowledge that non-criminals can stay. At the very least, illegals that are identified and not deported should be made to pay reparations, but that won't happen, so they are successful criminals.
The 1st half of Matt Walsh's videos has interesting ICE protestor coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjVrPOk4MMw&t=2173s
Didn't see this, but it's related: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA4Pf9XnlTs
Well, your response makes me angry. It's not the same as rape. Ask a rape victim and you will see.
Also, the NEA is an independent federal agency of the United States government.
If ICE or whomever can get rid of one illegal migrant who would otherwise rape or kill someone that is a win, although I agree it is impossible to get rid of everyone.
Comparing an illegal alien who goes on to become a heart surgeon who saves lives is not the same as an illegal alien who murders his neighbor. I can't believe you don't see the difference.
It's unfortunate that you're angry. I did not equate rape and being an illegal as to minimize rape, only to make the point that both are crimes and both ARE worthy of punishment at some level. I think you should reread my comment carefully. Or you can substitute, assault, money laundering, or whatever, to conceptually understand what I meant.
There is an example of a surgeon that came in illegally that I remember hearing about a few years ago. He's still a lawbreaker. (And BTW - many surgeons cause harm and are not "good people.") Do you believe that there should be a societal productivity test to determine which illegals should be deported and which can stay based on some government determination of social value? Maybe a social credit system score?
If you have info that the National Education Association is a government entity, please share it. It's a 501(c)(5) nonprofit so it can't be part of the government with that status. It may get grants that are repurposed, which is bad enough, but that's not government funding far-left political organizations.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is a government agency.
I'm correcting this because I got the two NEA s mixed up.
As for illegal aliens I stated it is a crime. But not all crimes are equal. And my opinion is that since it is absurd to imagine ALL illegals can be deported, focus on the ones committing crimes and let the ones who have been here for years stay. I am not sure what you realistically think would be a better solution.
And of course, obviously there are bad surgeons and good surgeons, of all sorts. This is stating the obvious.
You stated "To say that some have no record and built lives here and therefore should be exempt, IS JUST LIKE SAYING that someone identified for a rape 25 years ago that has been a productive citizen since, should not have to face charges"
No, it isn't "just like saying"
It isn't the same.
For the courts to be filled to overflowing with people who are now productive citizens who came here illegally 20 years ago so they can now be "punished" is NOT the same as capturing a rapist after 20 years. In fact, taking money away from finding the rapist so that hundreds of thousands of people who have done nothing wrong for 10, 20, 30 years can be chased down and prosecuted and punished (what would that punishment be) would do more harm than good. You are not even taking into account how angry and unpopular that would be with the majority of Americans. These would be people who got married and had children, who did integrate into society, who have friends, who perform jobs.
I know how serious the crime of rape is and the consequences to the victim. I was making a comparison of legal principal only and could have picked another crime for illustration. I was not literally comparing the two acts.
The fact that people have been here illegally for a long time and have and will get away with it is the insidious nature of the crime. They have cost legal citizens plenty, so the fact that later they may be paying taxes and deemed by some as good people, is not an excuse. Untold numbers that have been here a long time are still living off the government and in the shadows. Plus, many legal immigrants want illegals out, even if they come from the same country.
I stated that most will not be deported, but if they could be, I support it. My grandparents had to follow every legality to get into this country and other non-criminal "good citizen" family members were denied the opportunity. The fact that others could walk across a border, especially during democrat administrations, doesn't excuse their illegal acts.
When the deportations mostly subside, plenty of criminals will have gotten away with sneaking in and staying. And as I said, the "good citizen" illegals will have set a precedent for another wave of non-criminal foreigners to sneak in, especially when the border monitoring subsides again in the future.
Still, who determines who a good citizen is? The US does not have access to records of most criminals that have come here, so how will their goodness or criminality be determined? Social credit score?
I don't know that anyone can have the perfect answer to all these questions. In a perfect world everyone would follow the law and there would be no criminals and no illegals but that's not the world we live in and so we have to find the best solutions we can. I tried in this essay to find the mkst realistic answers.
I appreciate that I'm sure you would like to do the same.
I agree with you Karen. :)
ICE is performing a crucial duty to the legal citizens of the US. They are empowered, by US law, to find and detain for exportation those who illegally entered the US. Even if illegals are not committing crimes against citizens, most are guilty of non-compliance with our laws. It is my understanding that ICE is concentrated on finding the worst of the criminal illegals. As it is likely that most are living among fellow illegals to blend in, ICE is likely to also encounter many of the more "benign" illegals. They are all guilty of violating our immigration laws. When a person illegally enters the US, they are setting themselves up to be deported at some point. Some of the lucky ones may have been here for decades, even being productive, but they are still here illegally, subject to deportation. We Americans may not be perfect citizens, but most are productive and support our laws and this country. Most of the illegals make no attempt to assimilate into our society. Many illegals are here to destroy our country, coming from countries that are our enemies. No borders=no country.
From the CATO link - which is organized horribly, giving percentages without actual numbers is misleading in the best of circumstances -
"The same ICE dataset shows that in November 2025, 70 percent of those who ICE deported had no criminal conviction, and 43 percent had no criminal conviction or criminal charge. Across all available datasets, it is clear that the Trump administration is not living up to its promises to deport millions and millions of criminals or to prioritize the worst of the worse. So far, the administration has removed barely 90,000 individuals with criminal convictions and fewer than 150,000 individuals with convictions or pending charges."
Supposedly about 2.5m have self deported, 150k is 6% of 2.5m. I would assume someone is detained before deportation when they show up at whatever location ICE is doing local processing at for their plane ticket and check. It sounds like CATO took the number of actual arrests before deportation, the people ICE has to chase essentially, and is comparing to everyone who SELF DEPORTED to try and make it sound like ICE is picking up everyone they can and not first and foremost targeting criminals.
The solution to illegal immigration is very simple - create a means for employers to verify employment eligibility (current system is woefully inadequate) and then enforce employment laws and increase fines on employers to levels where the risk becomes too high. As an example anyone picking up an illegal at a Home Depot should face vehicle confiscation.
Apart from a very small subset of refugees, employment is the only reason immigrants come. I have lived in Central America and the idea that one travels all the way to the US is unfounded as the violence is limited to certain regions. It would be the equivalent of someone living in south Chicago traveling to Switzerland and requesting asylum based on a fear of violence.
Of course neither party has the will to actually do this since they both greatly benefit.
ICE isn’t immigration. They’re the proud boys.
Even under Obama?
I don’t think there should be degrees of illegality. The law has to be applied equally, or just stop making laws if they are so easily bent to serve one group of illegals over another group. By entering this country without permission, you are a criminal. That is the law. All should be removed and never allowed to return. Self-deportation with an avenue to apply for legal immigration is reasonable.
They’ve all got to go for simple reasons of law, financial burden, culture, and election integrity. Let the good ones re-enter by legal process.
The Left has become completely arrogant in their belief that they are not only untouchable, but invincible. The 2020 Floyd riots, and Trump's complete impotence in stopping them, only emboldened them further. I have no pity for that humanoid who was shot dead while trying to run over an ICE agent. It is amazing to see lily-white communists protesting in the thousands for black Somali leeches and criminals. Why aren't they taking them into *their* rich homes? Why aren't they paying for them, clothing them, and feeding them? HYPOCRITES.
Out!