ICE Crackdown: A Bipartisan Business Model, Not a GOP Problem
📰 THE STORY: Newsweek's 2018 article presents former President Trump's aggressive ICE enforcement as a problem primarily for the Republican Party, suggesting it's an outlier rather than a continuation of long-standing, bipartisan policies. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: ICE was formed in 2003 under the Homeland Security Act, a bipartisan effort following 9/11. Its precursor,
the INS, engaged in aggressive tactics for decades, including 'Operation Wetback' in 1954 under Eisenhower, which deported over one million people. Furthermore, the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton, vastly expanded detention, expedited removals, and introduced programs like 287(g) which deputized local law
enforcement to act as immigration agents – a core tool of ICE's later crackdowns. Double Standard: While Trump's rhetoric and family separations drew outrage, the same media largely downplayed or normalized similar (albeit less extreme) enforcement expansions under Democratic administrations. For instance, the Obama-Biden administration deported more people than any previous administration, over 3
million individuals, yet was rarely framed as facing an 'immigration enforcement problem' for the Democratic party itself, but rather as 'tough on border security.' Follow the Money: The 'tough on immigration' stance, regardless of party, funnels billions into private prison corporations like GEO Group and CoreCivic, surveillance technology companies, and border security contractors. These