🚨 “WHY ISN'T PRESIDENT TRUMP DEPORTING THEM FASTER?”
I see this frustration constantly from a subset in the MAGA camp.
This is a LONG post but STOP what you're doing and read it completely and most importantly UNDERSTAND what you're reading.
Lets go....
Millions of illegal aliens entered America during the border crisis.
President Trump comes back into office, shuts down the flow, and naturally people ask:
WHY AREN'T MILLIONS BEING DEPORTED IMMEDIATELY?
Here's what I think many Americans are missing.
STOPPING THE INFLOW and REMOVING THE PEOPLE ALREADY INSIDE THE COUNTRY are two completely different operations.
Think about a ship taking on water.
FIRST, you plug the hole.
That's the border.
Then you have to pump out the millions of gallons already inside.
That's deportation.
And pumping it out is enormously more complicated.
You cannot simply grab millions of people, put them on buses and dump them across the Mexican border.
Many aren't Mexican.
They may be from Venezuela, Haiti, China, India, Central America, Africa, the Middle East or dozens of other countries.
So follow what actually has to happen.
1. FIND THEM.
ICE has to identify and locate aliens subject to enforcement and you've seen the protests and court orders left right and center.
That process requires officers, intelligence, databases, vehicles, warrants or other legal authority where applicable, surveillance and coordination with other agencies.
2. ARREST AND PROCESS THEM.
Identity has to be confirmed.
Immigration status has to be established.
Existing removal orders, criminal history and other case information have to be checked.
3. DETAIN THEM - IF DETENTION IS AUTHORIZED AND AVAILABLE.
Now you need beds.
Not just a giant fenced field.
Actual detention facilities with guards, food, sanitation, utilities, administration and medical care.
DHS reported that the average direct adult detention-bed cost was about $187 PER PERSON PER DAY in FY2023.
Do the arithmetic.
100,000 people detained at that historical daily rate:
~$18.7 MILLION PER DAY.
One million simultaneously?
~$187 MILLION PER DAY.
And that's before pretending detention capacity can magically expand to ONE MILLION BEDS overnight.
It can't.
4. PROVIDE MEDICAL CARE AND HUMANE CONDITIONS.
Remember we are talking about America here.
People in federal custody still have to be fed, housed safely and receive required medical care.
ICE's health system handled medical services or health-standard oversight involving hundreds of thousands of detained aliens in FY2025.
Before removal, ICE also have to determine whether someone is medically fit to travel.
Why does this matter?
Because if President Trump simply threw millions of people into makeshift camps without adequate food, sanitation, medical treatment or legal safeguards, you already know exactly what would happen.
The lawsuits would start immediately.
The media would run the images 24/7.
Democratic politicians and immigration groups would challenge the operation.
Federal courts would become another battlefield.
So the administration has to build an enforcement MACHINE capable of operating at scale while surviving legal scrutiny.
5. DEAL WITH THE COURTS.
This is another enormous bottleneck.
Some aliens already have final removal orders.
Others don't.
Removal proceedings can involve an immigration judge determining whether somebody is removable.
The alien may seek relief from removal.
There can be hearings.
Evidence.
Legal arguments.
And certain decisions can be appealed.
That takes judges.
Courtrooms.
Government attorneys.
ICE personnel.
Administrative staff.
And TIME.
This is a massive billion dollar industry on its own.
6. GET THE DESTINATION COUNTRY TO TAKE THEM.
America cannot magically teleport someone home.
ICE may need travel documentation and coordination with the receiving country.
Then transportation has to be arranged.
7. ACTUALLY REMOVE THEM.
Now you're talking buses, aircraft, ICE Air Operations, security personnel, flight crews, medical support where necessary and international logistics.
Multiply that by HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.
Then MILLIONS.
Now you understand the scale.
And here's something else people need to understand:
DETENTION CAPACITY IS PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
You can't deport 1 million people simultaneously if you've only built capacity for a fraction of that population. Construction of facilities takes months.
In FY2024, ICE's average daily detained population was only a little over 37,000 people.
So when MAGA asks:
“WHY CAN'T THEY JUST DEPORT 5 MILLION PEOPLE THIS YEAR?”
My answer is:
Look at the logistics.
Even if the political will exists, you need:
- ICE agents
- detention beds
- guards
- medical staff
- immigration judges
- government lawyers
- transportation
- aircraft
- travel documents
- foreign-government cooperation
- and BILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
And every stage has to operate under American law.
That's why shutting down the border FIRST was so important.
Imagine trying to empty a swimming pool while somebody keeps pouring water into it.
STOP THE WATER FIRST.
Then increase the size of the pumps.
That's essentially what America has to do now.
- Border crossings dramatically down.
- Then expand ICE manpower.
- Expand detention capacity.
- Increase court capacity.
- Prioritize criminal aliens and people with final removal orders.
- Increase removal flights.
- Pressure countries to accept their nationals.
- And systematically work through the population already in the country.
Here's the uncomfortable reality:
America accumulated this problem over YEARS.
Physically and legally unwinding it at massive scale was never going to happen in 30 days.
And trying to do it recklessly would create operational failures, enormous waste and legal challenges that could actually SLOW deportations down.
In fact, GAO has already documented what can happen when detention capacity is expanded too quickly: ICE's huge Camp East Montana facility was rushed into operation, developed serious deficiencies and produced millions of dollars in waste.
That should tell MAGA something important.
- Demand SPEED.
- Demand RESULTS.
- Demand DEPORTATIONS.
- Demand that Congress fund the manpower, courts, detention capacity and transportation necessary to enforce immigration law.
But also understand the size of the machine required to do this lawfully and humanely.
President Trump shutting down the influx was STEP ONE.
Building enough capacity to remove illegal aliens already inside America at enormous scale is STEP TWO.
And unlike a campaign slogan, Step Two requires thousands of people, enormous infrastructure, international cooperation, due process where applicable and a hell of a lot of money.
YOU CAN CLOSE A DOOR QUICKLY.
REMOVING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ALREADY WALKED THROUGH IT IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT OPERATION.
I hope people can share this far and wide to educate the masses.