Immigration Showdown- Midweek Musing
A weekly newsletter dedicated to Mexican American news, politics, and commentary.
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BIG BROTHER UNLEASHED?
As voters churned out ballots for the election, pundits again retreated to a familiar political orthodoxy: Democrats want big government and Republicans want small government—a simplified take on American politics that has permeated election cycles for the better half of a century.
Yet for Latinos, who now represent 13 percent of the electorate, traditional political orthodoxy is much more nuanced. In fact, a vote for Democrats doesn’t always mean a vote for more government (as Republicans might argue). On the contrary, a vote for Democrats sometimes means a vote for less government—particularly when compared to Republicans.
Nowhere is this clearer than with ICE. For many Latinos, ICE represents one of the most frightening and visible arms of government. And who can blame them? Under Trump, ICE raided countless Latino communities. As a result, it should come as no surprise the majority of Latinos would vote to curb the power that big government departments like ICE wield.
By contrast, the Republican Party has come to represent bigger, more intrusive government. It advocates more government in communities. It champions more raids and deportations. It calls for more breakup of families.
MASS DEPORTATION PLAN FACES LOGISTICAL HURDLES
With ICE staffing at about 20,000 agents, critics argue it would be difficult, if not impossible, to track and deport the millions of undocumented migrants living across the country.
Financial costs also present a major challenge. Trump has suggested that his administration would not be deterred by the potentially massive price tag of executing such a policy, but experts predict the logistical and economic burdens would be staggering.
According to the American Immigration Council, About 11 million undocumented immigrants lived in the United States as of 2022—3.3 percent of the country’s overall population. An additional 2.3 million removable immigrants were released into the United States between January 2023 and April 2024 and would also be targeted in any mass deportation operation.
A one-time operation to deport these immigrants would cost at least $315 billion.
DEPORTATION: COMPARING BIDEN, OBAMA, AND TRUMP
Presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden all oversaw deportations during their time in office. But while the rhetoric might have been different under each administration, was there any major discernible difference in policy?
Below we compare each administration.
Under Obama, deportations reached historically high levels. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Obama’s administration deported more than 3 million people during his two terms, making him the president with the highest number of deportations in U.S. history until the Trump administration.
Deportations under Trump were still significant, but slightly lower than Obama’s. According to ICE, there were approximately 1.7 million deportations during Trump’s four years in office. However, the rhetoric and policies surrounding deportation became much more aggressive.
Deportations under Biden have been lower than those under Trump, but the numbers are still significant. ICE deported around 1.4 million people during Biden’s first three years in office (2021–2023), which is fewer than under Trump but still relatively high.
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At The Daily Chela, we believe that every story matters and that diverse perspectives are crucial in shaping a more informed community. Our mission is to provide a platform for Chicano and Latino voices, share vital stories from our community, and cover news with the depth and context it deserves.
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FLASHBACK: MIGRANTS FACE INCREASING DANGERS
Exposure to the elements is the primary cause of migrant deaths. Since the implementation of Operation Gatekeeper by the Clinton administration in the mid-1990s, Customs and Border Protection’s policy of “prevention through deterrence” has continually militarized the U.S.-Mexico border and intentionally pushed migrants into increasingly remote and deadly regions of the desert in an attempt to deter border crossings.
Heat also continues to take a heavy toll, especially as climate change causes higher, more dangerous temperatures to linger for longer. While the peak temperatures of 2022 were not as high as the previous two years—where temperatures reached up to 130 degrees—California’s Imperial and San Diego counties still reached a record amount of daily temperature extremes.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE U.S/MEXICAN BORDER
In the beginning, it was a vague idea, the approximate and inhospitable edge of the Spanish Empire and the beginning of no man’s land.
At the end of the 18th century, the primitive United States of America was far from the nation that would soon become Mexico. Even more “recently,” in the middle of the 19th century, the border between Mexico and the States was only a line drawn on a piece of paper, a porous boundary with no man-made barriers.
Mexico was officially born at the end of 1821. So for two centuries now, along two thousand miles, Mexicans and Americans have had a bittersweet neighborhood.
The line from San Diego/Tijuana to Brownsville/Matamoros is as large as Western Europe. It measures just about 2 thousand miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance equivalent from Madrid to Warsaw. It passes through fertile valleys, white deserts resembling the Sahara, mountainous areas and wetlands. It has a culture of its own and even, in the opinion of some linguists, an incipient language, Spanglish.
TIJUANA CHURCHES STAND FIRM IN HELPING ASYLUM SEEKERS
Tijuana, Mexico has a long history of being a middle point for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. In 2018, more than 4,700 migrants from Central America arrived at the Tijuana border. At the time, Tijuana mayor, Juan Manuel Gastelum, called it a humanitarian crisis.
The city has long been an ideal place for migrants from Mexico and Central America. Although the route to Tijuana from Central America is longer than other major ports of entries such as the Rio Grande along the Texas border, migrants often choose the 2,5000-mile journey for safety.
The Pacific coast of Mexico is considered the less dangerous path. Cartels are less likely to kidnap and kill migrants along this passage. In contrast, the eastern side of Mexico, along the Gulf of Mexico, has seen a significant uptick in murders of migrants by cartels.
Migrants also take the longer route to Tijuana because its border crosses into California, a liberal state with sanctuary laws that appeal to migrants hoping to be let into the U.S.
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At The Daily Chela, we believe that every story matters and that diverse perspectives are crucial in shaping a more informed community. Our mission is to provide a platform for Chicano and Latino voices, share vital stories from our community, and cover news with the depth and context it deserves.
But we can’t do this without you. We rely on the support of readers to continue our work. Your subscription is not just a donation—it’s an investment in the future of indie media.
Here’s how you can help:
Make a Monthly Contribution of only $5.99: Your financial support will help us cover operational costs, pay our dedicated team, and expand our reach to more readers.
To subscribe or donate, simply click on the “upgrade to paid” button.
Thank you for your support and for believing in the power of independent media. Together, we can make sure that every voice is heard and every story is told.