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Writer's pictureHowie Klein

Trump’s Not Really Going To Go Through With His Mass Deportation Threats, Is He?



46% of Latino voters picked Señor Trumpanzee— more than Reagan (37%) or Bush (44%)— the biggest share of the national Latino vote in modern history. He won Latino men outright (55%). Latino voters,” reported Russell Contreras and Astrid Galvan, “appeared to look beyond the racist rhetoric Trump's used to describe undocumented immigrants in an election in which the economy and inflation were top concerns of many voters…Latinos were saying, ‘I don't care what Trump says. I want to be able to pay the bills. I want to be able to send my kid to college. I want to pay the mortgage, to afford a new car.’”


Trump won 58% of the Latino vote in Michigan and tied Harris in Nevada and North Carolina! Trump beat Harris 51-49 in Hidalgo County, in South Texas — a Mexican American stronghold that Biden won with 58% of the vote in 2020. In Cameron County, at the southern tip of Texas' Rio Grande Valley, Trump beat Harris, 53-47. Biden won the county with 56% of the vote four years ago.


I wonder if some of them thought that if they turned out for Trump, he wouldn’t deport them and their families. I know I’m worried about Latinos in L.A. I’m close with.


Kristen Welker and Alexandra Marquez reported that Señor T told NBC News yesterday that “one of his first priorities upon taking office in January would be to make the border ‘strong and powerful.’ When questioned about his campaign promise of  mass deportations, Trump said his administration would have ‘no choice’ but to carry them out. Trump said he considers his sweeping victory over Vince President Kamala Harris a mandate ‘to bring common sense’ to the country. ‘We obviously have to make the border strong and powerful and, and we have to— at the same time, we want people to come into our country,’ he said. ‘And you know, I’m not somebody that says, No, you can’t come in. We want people to come in.’ As a candidate, Trump had repeatedly vowed to carry out the ‘largest deportation effort in American history.’ Asked about the cost of his plan, he said, ‘It’s not a question of a price tag. It’s not— really, we have no choice. When people have killed and murdered, when drug lords have destroyed countries, and now they’re going to go back to those countries because they’re not staying here. There is no price tag.’”


It's unclear how many undocumented immigrants there are in the U.S., but acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner told NBC News in July that a mass deportation effort would be a huge logistical and financial challenge. Two former Trump administration officials involved in immigration during his first term told NBC News that the effort would require cooperation among a number of federal agencies, including the Justice Department and the Pentagon.
…In Thursday’s phone interview, he partially credited his message on immigration as a reason he won the race, saying, "They want to have borders, and they like people coming in, but they have to come in with love for the country. They have to come in legally."

NBC was right to ask him about the costs although I wish they could have stopped him from worming out of a serious answer because his proposal would have immediate and severe economic repercussions, not only in terms of cost but also in the ripple effects on businesses, housing, labor markets, taxation and communities nationwide. Estimates from his first term indicated that a full-scale deportation effort would cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, projected that deporting all undocumented immigrants would take 20 years and cost between $400 and $600 billion, factoring in the direct costs of identification, detention, transportation and “processing.” The logistics of a mass deportation would require vast resources, pulling personnel and funding from other vital areas. ICE, the Justice Department and even the Pentagon would be tasked with supporting this colossal operation, reducing resources available for domestic law enforcement, public health, and emergency preparedness. The strain on courts, detention facilities, and social services would create a bureaucratic bottleneck, overwhelming already stretched government systems. Obviously, the costs would fall on taxpayers and lead to cuts in other critical government services or increased deficits, all for a plan that has historically shown limited effectiveness.


Undocumented immigrants make up a significant portion of the workforce in sectors that are crucial to the economy— agriculture, construction, hospitality, food service… to name a few. Removing millions of workers from these industries would create widespread labor shortages, disrupting supply chains, increasing prices, and causing significant harm to businesses that rely on immigrant labor to function. Employers would struggle to fill vacancies, and productivity would suffer, especially in states like Texas, California, and Florida, where these sectors are pillars of the economy. Many undocumented immigrants own or rent homes, contribute to local economies and pay taxes. Their sudden removal would disrupt housing markets across the country, leading to foreclosures, evictions and devaluation of property in immigrant-heavy communities. This ripple effect would likely drag down property values for American citizens, harming middle- and lower-income homeowners the hardest.


For communities with mixed-status families, mass deportations would tear families apart, with U.S.-born children often left without parents or sent into foster care. The social cost of such separations is incalculable but undeniably tragic, affecting not only the individuals involved but also broader community cohesion and trust in government institutions. Neighborhoods would see increased poverty rates, mental health crises, and a chilling effect on community engagement as people become more fearful of law enforcement. As I said, I suspect that many Latinos who supported Trump in hopes of better economic policies could feel betrayed by these measures. Trump’s victory with a record share of the Latino vote might signal a desire for economic stability, but mass deportations would harm Latino communities directly and disproportionately. This policy could turn a segment of his base against him, especially those who voted with the belief that he would protect their interests, not disrupt their families and livelihoods.

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an hour ago

Anyone who writes "He won't really... will he?" is the reason he's there and CAN do what he says he'll do.


He might do a lot of damage to the latins and the "nation", but he doesn't care. The act of ratfucking is its own reward to people like that. Unlike your corrupt pussies, give HIM power and just expect him to USE it to do what he said he'd do.


And if it looks like it will cost him/them a future election, he'll invoke P2025 and just do away with elections and oppo parties (not that there are any, really).


From now on, to get an idea of what they'll actually do, it would be better to review what…

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