America is now the deportation nation

Telegraph

2 days ago

Ever since he glided down a golden escalator more than a decade ago to announce his bid for the White House, Donald Trump's political career has been defined by immigration. Identifying the widening chasm between elite consensus and public opinion on the issue, he was denounced as a 'populist' for refusing to accept that the illegal entry of millions of people into the United States was somehow an economic and political inevitability. When his Republican rivals offered amnesties, he offered a border wall.
But for all the Democratic hysterics, Trump's first term was mostly 'business as usual' on immigration. The border wall was only partially built, 'Big Farm-a' continued to employ off-the-books illegal labour, and deportation levels remained stable. That's no critique of the president: genuine action against mass migration was always going to require a total rewiring of the system, the creation of a 'deportation state'.
Well, look out America, because your deportation state is nearly here.
Among all of the huge changes that will be brought on by the passing of Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill', the allocation of funding to immigration enforcement may perhaps be the most extraordinary. In the next four years, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) will end up with a budget larger than the US Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration – and the FBI. Detention capabilities will also be greatly expanded, which may allow ICE to approximately double the number of migrants it can detain.
That's not even considering the money allocated to buying more planes for deportation and vastly expanding training and employment for specialised officers. There will be more money allocated to ICE than to any federal enforcement agency in America's history.
The logistics of the deportation state go beyond mere funding. In the first 100 days of the administration, illegal border encounters totally collapsed. This trend has continued, now resulting in eerily quiet border towns and the seeming disappearance of undocumented workers in local hospitality and agricultural work.
This disappearance is only partly thanks to the work of ICE, with merely the threat of being rounded up and deported to unfamiliar climes – El Salvador, South Sudan – apparently enough to push thousands of migrants into 'self-deporting', to borrow a term from the glossy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Up-and-coming Republican state officials also know that the best way to boost their Maga credentials is to be seen helping the president in his efforts. James Uthmeier, the Florida State Attorney General, won immense credit with the administration for his role in organising the creation of a new deportation holding centre dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz', constructed and put into operation in a manner of days.
Not every Republican is happy, of course. The old GOP business establishment has been lobbying to pause raids on farms, hotels and restaurants (with some success – ICE de-proritised these locations for raids a few months ago). But they know that any more overt displays of disloyalty will be harshly punished.
The negative response to the expansion of deportation efforts can be just as useful to the administration: images from the recent LA riots, with protesters waving giant Mexican flags next to burnt-out cop cars, seemed to show the public precisely how committed to America some recent entrants to their nation really felt. Public opinion will be vital to the ongoing success of the deportation state, with Trump betting that citizens won't be too unhappy with some mistakes being made if the broader effort appears effective. So far, that bet seems to be paying off.
There will be chaos and disruption, and no doubt a fair share of simple policy failures. But the scope of Trump's ambition on mass migration can no longer be questioned.
The work of figures like Stephen Miller has sought to put intellectual ballast behind the president's rhetoric and actions on immigration. Yes, they want to restore borders, but also to strip away arguably outdated ideas like birthright citizenship and challenge the reflexive acceptance of multiculturalism over integration. There will be no going back, no way of treating 2016 as an aberration as in 2020. This is Maga institutionalising itself.