Trump’s border blitz proves past presidents refused to enforce laws

Donald Trump has launched his second presidential term with a “flood the zone” strategy designed to overwhelm the left before it can mount a response. The real estate mogul, aware of how a hostile media and entrenched Washington bureaucracy hindered his first term, is using the overwhelming mandate from voters to build early momentum.

Among Trump’s many promises, none mattered more to his supporters than swift and substantive action on immigration. His first-week strategy shows he took that commitment seriously. In just seven days, Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted nationwide raids, arresting thousands of illegal immigrants. Authorities prioritized the most dangerous offenders, ensuring gang members, drug traffickers, and child predators were swiftly removed. The speed of these removals raises one clear question: Was the Biden administration allowing violent illegal aliens to terrorize American citizens?

With Tom Homan serving as border czar, both ICE and the Drug Enforcement Agency launched coordinated raids in major cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Miami, and Atlanta. Agents entered immigration law offices and targeted "sanctuary cities" like San Francisco. Homan has made it clear he will not hesitate to raid schools, churches, and hospitals if they are found harboring illegal immigrants who pose a threat to public safety.

As Homan recently told an ABC News reporter, “If you’re in the country illegally, you’re on the table.”

Some of Trump’s critics on the right argue that despite the thousands of arrests in his first week, the pace of deportations remains too slow to remove the estimated 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants in the United States within his first term. However, this critique overlooks several key factors.

First, this is only Trump’s first week in office, and many of his key personnel are still awaiting Senate confirmation. Mass deportations require extensive logistical coordination, which cannot be fully implemented until the executive branch is firmly under his control. Given that reality, the scale of his administration’s initial enforcement efforts is already remarkable.

Another flawed assumption is that all illegal immigrants should be rounded up and deported simultaneously. Trump’s team recognizes that foreign governments will resist accepting thousands — if not millions — of their least desirable citizens. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has already voiced opposition to the more than 4,000 deportations to her country in Trump’s first week. Colombian President Gustavo Petro initially refused to accept deportees until Trump threatened tariffs and visa restrictions. Petro quickly relented, even offering his presidential jet for deportation flights.

Rushing to detain millions of illegal immigrants without securing cooperation from their home countries would have been a strategic mistake. It would have forced the administration to hold them in detention facilities, giving the left time to obstruct the process and fueling media narratives about “concentration camps” or “kids in cages.”

By targeting and deporting the most dangerous offenders first, Trump immediately improved public safety while also testing the resolve of foreign leaders. With that precedent established, Homan and his team can now accelerate efforts to remove millions more.

The final flawed assumption in deportation math is that the administration must physically remove all 20 to 30 million illegal immigrants. That was never the plan.

Illegal immigration is largely incentivized by the government, corporations, and progressive NGOs that profit from it. The journey itself is expensive and dangerous — many migrants spend their life savings to make the trip, while women and children often suffer sexual abuse. Most illegal immigrants come because they expect easy entry, government benefits, and protection from deportation.

If the Trump administration continues ramping up deportations while cracking down on illegal employment and welfare, many will self-deport. As opportunities disappear and their friends and family are sent home, staying in the U.S. will become less appealing.

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