The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Ronald Eustice
The Department of Homeland Security is buying up dozens of warehouses to house illegal immigrants before deportation. They are doing this secretly without formal procedures or full disclosure to residents. Reports are that ICE, which is part of DHS, has purchased at least seven warehouses in Arizona and signed deeds for dozens more in multiple states. DHS will use the space to meet their quota of deporting 3,000 illegals per day.
Even communities that backed Trump in 2024 are sounding the alarm. Communities are concerned that detention of migrants in their communities will destroy real estate values and bring social unrest. The idea of platoons of heavily armed, masked men hauling migrants in paddy wagons is reminiscent of Gestapo tactics. In normal times, we would not expect masked men to pull people out of cars, handcuff them, drag them to unmarked vans and detain them for days or weeks, and then release them, at least not in America. The idea of deportations without due process is a sign of a lawless society.
As support for Trump’s deportation plan plummets, more Americans realize that our immigration system is badly broken and that those in control are making serious problems worse.
The Trump administration’s efforts to deport people illegally in this country are legitimate and necessary. The failure to control illegal immigration and the Biden administration’s decision to open our borders to such migrants, was an act of self-harm that will take years to repair. Trump’s greatest accomplishment is that he has secured our southern border. What to do with thousands of illegal migrants already here is a good question. Is the plan to deport every one of them? If so, at what cost?
The US economy has long been the world’s most powerful. America’s strength rests on sustained capital investment but also on a dependable and growing labor supply. More workers mean more production, more consumers and more product demand.
The US was approaching zero labor force growth as fertility fell and population aged. What kept the country from an economic disaster was immigration. The 3,000-person-per-day arrest quota looks like an act of economic-self sabotage.
Throughout the 2024 campaign, Trump focused on deporting the worst of the worst — illegal immigrants who were members of gangs and cartels, or who committed felonies, but federal agents are sweeping across the country rounding up hardworking people who are working to support their families and contribute to communities. Their only offense is illegal presence, not a felony.
No one wants to harbor violent criminals. But most deportees aren’t criminals. The Cato Institute obtained internal DHS internal security data showing that 73% of those detained by ICE between Oct. 1 and Nov. 15, had no criminal conviction and only 5% had been convicted of a violent crime. The vast majority of the 675,000 deported last year were working in manufacturing and processing plants, farms, construction sites, nursing homes and day care centers. They were not on welfare as critics would like you to believe. The Center for Migration Studies finds that the undocumented work force is large and overwhelmingly employed across key sectors of the economy. Most of these jobs require employees who can work year around. Livestock must be cared for 365 days per year. It is estimated that 80 to 90% of the milk we drink is produced by immigrants. Many immigrant workers who are being deported have been here ten years or more without being a burden on society. These are people we should want to keep.
It makes no economic sense for the government to buy warehouses, make them public property and remove them from the tax rolls, pay bonuses to hire thousands mask wearing federal agents who receive minimal training, invade our cities to roundup hardworking, law-abiding people who harvest our crops, process our food, build our houses, care for our elderly and send their children to our schools to keep them open. These people are our friends, neighbors and often our families. It’s time to get serious about fixing a severely broken system and develop a plan we can all live with.
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