The Deportation Fiasco: Blunders or Features?
Mainstream outlets are currently reporting on what they term 'botched' deportations carried out by the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump. We are told these incidents—like the removal of a suspected jewelry thief before trial or a college student deported despite a judicial order—are simply 'screw-ups' born of haste. One might almost believe these are unfortunate anomalies in an
otherwise smooth system. Yet, a glance at the historical record suggests less 'botch' and more feature. Consider the 1954 CIA-orchestrated coup in Guatemala, which, by installing a military regime, laid the groundwork for decades of instability and forced migration that continues today. The systemic disregard for the sovereignty of nations and the lives of those displaced by U.S. foreign policy
has always manifested domestically as a contempt for the rights of migrants, irrespective of their legal status. The current administration's target of 675,000 deportations isn't a novel surge but a continuation of deeply entrenched state power. We are meant to tut-tut at the embarrassing optics of a deported criminal or a college student. But these instances, far from being isolated mistakes,
highlight a consistent policy of prioritizing enforcement quotas over due process, mirroring previous administrations that deported millions (nearly 3 million under Obama). The apologies issued by officials, like the one to Babson College student Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, ring hollow when contrasted with the government’s unwavering refusal to allow her return, clinging to a removal order she did