Government Coup

[iris lilies]

I will idly comment that my former city residence, St. Louis is a Sanctuary City For reproductive rights.

When that aldermanic bill passed, I knew the place was truly crazy. I don’t even know what it means. Of course it’s obviously performative, but at some point, will there be state or federal strife about “reproductive rights” within STL? I can’t see how that would have any teeth anyway.

It’s all so stupid, and I wish we could get back to the important business of covering governing cleanly and minimally.

[iris lilies]

I asked AI why we didn't hear more about Obama's deportations and they said:

We didn't hear more about Obama's deportations because his administration shifted focus to interior removals of criminals/recent crossers, reducing large-scale raids, and implemented policies like DACA, while border removals remained high, creating confusion; however, critics argued his administration still deported many non-criminals and that priorities weren't always met, but the narrative emphasized "humane" enforcement and targeted threats over the sheer numbers.

Key Reasons for Less Focus on Deportations
Shift in Enforcement Priorities: The administration prioritized removing national security threats, recent border crossers, and serious criminals, reducing large-scale workplace raids common under Bush and focusing on interior enforcement, though results were mixed.
"Humane" Enforcement Narrative: Obama aimed to make enforcement more "humane," focusing on felons rather than families, which became the public story, despite reports of continued harshness.
DACA & Prosecutorial Discretion: Programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) offered temporary relief, creating a perception of leniency, though millions were still deported.
Resource Constraints & Strategy: Facing an economic crisis, the administration used enforcement as a tactic to build political will for broader immigration reform, which ultimately stalled.
Declining Interior Removals: While border removals stayed high, interior removals dropped significantly, shifting the type of deportation, even if total numbers were high, making headlines less consistent.

Criticism & Reality
"Deporter-in-Chief" Title: Obama earned the nickname due to high overall numbers, but advocates argued he deported many without serious criminal records, undermining his "humane" stance.
Mixed Results: Policies like the Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) aimed to focus on serious crimes, but data showed many deported didn't fit strict priority definitions.
In essence, the focus was on who was being deported (criminals vs. non-criminals) and how (interior vs. border), rather than just the total count, creating a complex narrative that sometimes obscured the significant enforcement still occurring.

I like that AI summary, it seems even handed.

[Alan]

I like that AI summary, it seems even handed.

Yes, it did.
Two things off the top of my head about it: #1 It seemed to be comparing Obama's border enforcement to the previous Bush administration and #2, It didn't mention the problems associated with 4 years of nearly unfettered access to the country by millions of minimally vetted people swarming into the country illegally. It would have been useful to the ongoing discussion here and elsewhere to bring it up to date.

[Rogar]

The comparison of Obama deportations with Trump is sort of apples to oranges. The majority of Obama deportations were recent illegal border crossings. Now border crossings are virtually shutdown. However I hardly buy Noem's claim that most of the ICE roundups are convicted dangerous criminals. They are basically grabbing people off the streets. Since Noem won't release much information, the real figures are unknown. Today's news featured an off duty Minneapolis cop of color who was stopped and asked for her papers. ICE is targeting people of color or accent demanding "papers". It reminisces of other historic events where government goons randomly stopped people demanding their papers and hauling people off to the unknown.

BTW, Carney's speech at Davos is worth a read. He basically was asking countries to stand up to bullying, no names mentioned (ha). He said something like you can eith sit at the table, or be on the menu. It got a standing ovation.

[Alan]

The comparison of Obama deportations with Trump is sort of apples to oranges. The majority of Obama deportations were recent illegal border crossings.

Yes it is apples to oranges, it doesn't take into account the 4 years of lax enforcement in-between those two administrations.

BTW, Carney's speech at Davos is worth a read. He basically was asking countries to stand up to bullying, no names mentioned (ha). He said something like you can eith sit at the table, or be on the menu. It got a standing ovation.

I heard parts of it, and so did the Washington Post who had this to say:
...Frustrations with one American president need not give way to the agenda of dictators. “I had discussions with President Xi about the situation in Greenland, about our sovereignty in the Arctic, about the sovereignty of the people of Greenland and the people of Denmark,” Carney said. “And I found much alignment of views in that regard.”
What? There is universal agreement within NATO that the Arctic must be protected from China and Russia. Any suggestion that Ottawa and Beijing agree on geopolitical strategy concerning the Arctic is either deeply insincere or worryingly naive."

[Alan]

I wasn’t there so can’t answer these questions. The POINT is these people should not have been rounded up AT ALL!

How can you make a valid POINT without knowledge of background?