The New York Times is in a tender mood over I.C.E. deporting illegal immigrants who haven’t killed, raped, robbed or otherwise turned to a life of crime—at least as far as we know— being deported by I.C.E. In the deliberately deceitfully-headlined “ICE Arrests Soar as People With No Criminal Record Are Increasingly Targeted” (Uh, no, illegal immigrants are being targeted. I, for example, qualify for the group “People With No Criminal Record,” and I am not being “targeted”), the New York Times writes today,
A majority of the immigrants arrested in July were people who were accused of violating civil immigration laws but who had not been charged with or convicted of a crime, an analysis of newly released federal data shows. The share with a past violent criminal conviction fell to less than 4 percent. Overall, immigration arrests rose to record highs with 43,000 ICE arrests in June and 49,000 in July. Two fatal shootings involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, in Texas and Maine, drew outrage but did not meaningfully slow the pace of arrests…ICE now appears closer than ever to meeting a recent goal of 2,000 daily arrests…Immigration arrests are near all-time highs in almost every state. Even sparsely populated Montana and Vermont saw spikes, with arrest rates more than doubling…
…Deportations have averaged well over 1,000 people a day since last summer, and there are signs that they are picking up speed. The number of deportation flights began rising in the spring, and in July reached a record of at least 329 flights out of the country, according to ICE Flight Monitor, a tracking effort run by Human Rights First.
My one word analysis of that report, which the New York Times presumably thinks will outrage its readers: Good. (And why would, or should, two fatal shootings involving ICE agents slow down appropriate law enforcement?)
Hey, but just for perspective and giggles, let’s see what appreciative Times readers (there are some sane comments in there too) are saying about the article:
Ethics Alarms 
There isn’t one. There is only obfuscation and denial that those in our country illegally haven’t committed a crime by doing so.
That’s my impression, but who knows? Maybe the elusive truth is out there….
When you look at the research, the ‘good’ illegal immigrants benefit upper-middle to upper class families, especially in suburban and urban environments.
The ‘good’ illegal immigrants provide less expensive nanny services that you can get from American citizens. In fact, ‘good’ illegal immigrants have been so successful in this that there are few American citizens even available for these jobs. It seems that at least 94% of nannies are legal or illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are cheaper and allow ‘lower’ income couples to afford nannies.
Over 50% of house cleaners seem to be legal or illegal immigrants. Same argument as above, illegal immigrants allow for cheaper house cleaning for affluent families.
Over 70,000 H2B visas are issued for landscaping workers. The number working illegally is probably similar or more. Without the illegal immigrants, the lawncare industry couldn’t find workers for what they pay.
In all three of these industries, hiring American workers would require drastically higher pay. This would have a detrimental affect on the businesses and people who rely on that low-cost labor they get from illegal immigrants.
Agriculture has the same argument.
That is the best honest argument that I can find. Of course, you could substitute slave for illegal immigrant and get the same argument from 1860. Slave labor drives out free labor.
Canada can have some really hyperbolic viewpoints on what they refer to as America. Like it is a single thing. What they don’t understand is that we are 50 very nearly sovereign states. No, America doesn’t really care much about Canada. American’s can hardly afford extra eggs with which to care for a neighbor let alone another country that wants the benefits that a state has without being one. Upset that we don’t congratulate them for how great they are like they do for each other. Can you tell my sarcasm co es from aggravated experience? I really have never met a Canadian I did not like though I have been baited into an attempt to prove that I fit some derogatory American stereotype.
When Canadians throw dirt like the comment you referenced they both believe and don’t believe what they are saying.
I have been convinced that comments such as that represent hurt they feel for derogative views of Canada they perceive Americans think of them. Though there is the sincerely held lunatic view that America has plans to steal all of Canada’s fresh water due to climat change.
I personally know multiple people that believe that they may not be let back into Canada if they cross the border or will not be allowed back into the US if they are on a green card.
I am convinced these people have massive unhealed emotional trauma and the medias portrayal of Trump feeds that hurt and it blossoms into mental terror.
Their comments are as unhinged as drowning victim frantically trying to climb on top of a rescuer, drowning them and ultimately their self. Is this unethical?
Now the part about being let back into the US is based on a kernel of truth. My brother was in a class in college with 5 Saudi students. One Monday, only one of the students showed up. He asked where the other 4 were and he was told “they got deported”. He thought the guy was kidding. Apparently, when you apply for a student visa, there is a checkbox to make the visa a ‘reentry visa’. All 5 had gone to the strip clubs in Windsor that Saturday night and when they got to the tunnel to come back, he was the only one who had checked the ‘reentry visa’ box on the application. He was allowed back into the US, the other 4 were held and then deported back to Saudi Arabia.
I can’t give a reason to oppose deporting anyone who isn’t lawfully present, but I will say that our country required the support and grew at a pace that was incompatible with current / existing legal immigration quotas. At some point when the enforcement machine is well-oiled and people realize that there isn’t an excuse that will stave-off deportation, we, as a country, need to really show that the legal avenues are working and that outcomes for people in those pathways are much better.
I’m obviously not an economist by trade or competence, but my impression is that our economy is hiding a crash – people are carrying on, hoping to work through it and avert crisis. Part of it I would attribute to Mamdani’s pied-a-terre tax which showed that many rich NYers had bought cheap FL homes to claim FL residency to pay no income tax while they actually/secretly lived in NY. His tax flipped that dynamic because now people are getting hit with a “You own a residence in NY that you say you don’t live in”….but now all of a sudden they’re like…”Wait! I DO live here!”…..ok….where’s your income taxes?
So, now they’re all selling their cheap Florida homes…but there’s a missing class of people because there were quite a few people who didn’t have legal status. Which is fine…but we still probably need to backfill these gaps. New citizen ceremonies should be, in my opinion, running at full speed. We need to show “the good illegals” that there is a process, it works, and they should accept the offers to self-deport and cash a check* for an opportunity to come back the correct way and be welcomed with open arms.
*There are current efforts for people to accept voluntary self-deportation which comes with a one-way airfare and a $2,600 check. (From Gov’t perspective, cheaper, faster, and less man-power required than forced-removal proceedings.)