Is Trump really deporting like Obama?

As I've mentioned, I doubt Voldemort will come close to deporting the 3 million illegals Obama did. That doesn't mean the Dark Lord is being honest about his efforts.

Generally speaking, in border states, where the vast majority of illegals reside he's going to allow the states, who are economically motivated to call the shots. Most of our new friends are likely to be snapped up in the agri, construction and healthcare support industries. The GOP donor base makes money off those industries and needs attractively priced labor.

Voldemort is going to use ICE to generate headlines in sanctuary cities, where far fewer illegals have recently come in order to force the Dems to push a border position that's nationally unpopular. Don't expect him to apply the law uniformly.

Trump’s Good Deportation Exceptions

He asks ICE to spare the farm and hospitality industries from raids.

By The Editorial Board, WSJ

June 15, 2025 4:42 pm ET

Good news on the mass deportation front: President Trump has listened to alarms from farmers and others and offered a reprieve from immigration raids for the agriculture and hospitality industries.

We wrote Saturday about the contradictory social-media messages the President was sending last week on deportations. And now we know why. He has instructed the Department of Homeland Security to ease up on deportations on businesses that rely heavily on migrant labor and can’t easily find American citizens to fill in.

He has listened to Brooke Rollins, his Agriculture secretary, who warned about economic damage in the Farm Belt. Many recent migrant workers have valid work visas granted by the Biden Administration. Even illegal migrants have some form of resident documentation that looks persuasive. The workers are typically diligent and often do work that would otherwise not get done.

Mr. Trump also knows first hand from the Trump Organization’s hotels and resorts the necessity of bringing in workers from abroad on work visas. Labor shortages are routine every summer in the U.S., which is why business groups lobby for more H-2B temporary visas, many of them filled by young people from Europe or Canada.

Sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to raid farms, hotel cleaning staff and restaurant busboys and cooks is damaging to the economy and a misuse of scarce federal manpower. Better to focus on criminals instead.

The ICE exceptions are also smart politics given the nature of Mr. Trump’s political coalition. It includes thousands of small-business employers who were frustrated with federal government regulatory harassment. They don’t want that replaced by ICE agents raiding their workplaces to snatch and deport law-abiding, longtime employees. The coalition also includes Hispanic Americans who live in the communities now frightened by ICE raids.

Mr. Trump told us in October that he needed to show “heart” along with firmness in immigration enforcement. More exceptions, please.