Axios Shocked: Quota-Driven ICE Arrests Surge Under Quota-Driven Admin
The latest Axios scoop, citing data from UC Berkeley, reveals ICE arrests are up, aiming for Trump's goal of 3,000 'removals' daily. This 'surge' is then contrasted with the paltry 1,100 arrests per day by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). What's missing? Perhaps the context that 'mass deportations' aren't a new Trump invention, but rather a chilling escalation of a system perfected
by both Republican and Democratic predecessors. Biden’s DHS, we’re helpfully reminded, 'stopped sharing immigration enforcement data since Trump started his second term'—the transparency we expect from an administration so concerned about democratic norms. Axios marvels at ICE targeting those 'without criminal convictions or charges'—a practice that was merely scaled back, not abolished, under
Biden, who still oversaw thousands of deportations. The real shock would be if an enforcement agency, notorious for its broad mandate and aggressive tactics, *didn't* pursue every warm body available to meet its dehumanizing quotas. One might wonder if the 'goal of 3,000 a day' isn't just a number, but a direct instruction to cast the net as wide as possible, regardless of due process. Perhaps
actual criminals are just harder to find than families trying to survive.