Expecting a president who lied more than 30,000 times during his first term to be an honest broker of anything is an exercise in absurdity. The Trump campaign successfully catapulted the billionaire nepo-baby fraudster to the top of the shit-pile using more lies and propaganda to once again target nonwhite groups, particularly Latinos, to elevate the current president as the redeemer of white grievance, bigotry, misogyny, and outright racism.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continued perpetuating lies that posit Latino immigrants as criminals, rapists, and murderers despite immigrants committing far less crime than native born U.S. citizens. Even so, the administration is not only deporting innocent people but also their U.S. citizen children, while also taking children away from their parents as they are being deported. The administration also posted 100 photos of Latino immigrants on the White House lawn, alleging they are the types of criminals described above.
The DHS office of public affairs issued a press release on Monday using the same talking points used on the campaign trail, as if to suggest it is regurgitating the lies that gave them power to boost Trump’s disastrous approval ratings. The administration doesn’t seem to understand that it has exposed its own lies through its actions since Trump took office in January. Even Trump voters see through much of it now.
“The Biden Administration refused to enforce our nation’s laws when it came to border security,” read the statement from DHS. “This allowed millions of illegal aliens – including criminals, gang members, and terrorists – into our country. But in just 100 days, President Trump and Secretary Noem have not only closed our border but have delivered the most secure border in American history.”
The statement cites “Operation Tidal Wave,” which claims to have arrested “MS-13, murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and human rights abusers.” But because the operation is being conducted in Florida with the assistance of Florida cops, the number of Cubans who have been taken into custody and/or deported makes that statement easy to debunk. As a Cuban, I can assure you, Cubans are not a part of MS-13. Cubans are vastly overrepresented in the tally of arrests during the operation that began a week ago.
Considering what we know about the administration, the continued lies and propaganda should be expected. It is not an opinion to point to the insurmountable pile of lies used to justify its inhumanity against non-citizens and citizens alike. Everyone speaking for Trump has been caught lying and changing their narratives as they squirm to justify what they are doing. When it comes to any law enforcement actions, not much has changed in the U.S. in this regard.
“In the first 100 days of the Trump Administration, we have arrested over 151,000 illegal aliens and have deported over 135,000,” reads the statement. “This includes 600 members of Tren De Aragua who have been arrested or deported, as well as thousands of MS-13 and 18th Street Gang members who have fled the country. These numbers have already surpassed the entirety of Fiscal Year 2024, and we’re just 100 days into this administration.”
While DHS says it arrested 151,000 and deported 139,000, Border Czar Tom Homan and DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told reporters at the White House on Monday that the number of deportees was 139,000. However, earlier this month, McLaughlin claimed the number of deportees between Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Coast Guard was 117,000.
As we all know, when a story constantly changes, the person telling it is most likely lying. And considering how much Trump and his white nationalist administration lie, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to call this what it is: another lie. What is most interesting here is that DHS tracks deportation numbers. That they are not citing and hiding the official numbers speaks volumes and tells us they can’t manipulate the data as they did during the campaign.
Making the actual numbers difficult to interpret is the Trump administration’s intentional concealment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement action data. However, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), removals under Trump as of mid-March remained about 10% below former President Biden’s record. This would explain why the administration continues to propagandize its mass deportation efforts.
“Operation Tidal Wave is a preview of what is to come around the country: large-scale operations that employ our state and local law enforcement partners to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” reads the DHS statement. “This is a first-of-its-kind, multi-agency immigration enforcement operation under the 287(g) program, coordinated by ICE with state and federal partners.”
As the administration brags that “U.S. Customs and Border Protection now has total control of the border” and calls it “the most secure border in American history,” it would behoove everyone, including Trump supporters, to question why the administration continues to claim it needs more taxpayer dollars to militarize the border and build a wall. Meanwhile, the party that willingly bows to Trump like court jesters is silent about all of it because, well, racism.
Instead of doing anything to stop the lawlessness of the Trump administration, Republican lawmakers are emboldening Trump by seeking over $500 billion to bolster Trump’s Latinophobic-centered xenophobic agenda and propaganda machine. Several committees are meeting this week in the House to allocate funds for Trump’s agenda while cutting funding for social services in the budget reconciliation process.
Political pundits may want the people to stop using words like “fascism” and “oligarchy,” but the truth is, those words accurately describe what’s happening in front of our faces. We could call it a lot of things, but normal or democratic don’t fit. This is despotism by committee. The only difference is that the Trump administration is much more open about its inhumanity than previous administrations, which paved the way for him on immigration.
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