The administration seems to be deliberately making the deportations as cruel and scary as possible (CECOT, Alligator Alcatraz, etc) as a means of deterring future illegal immigration and encouraging self deportation. I haven’t looked into the numbers to see how well that’s working or not, but focusing on deportations alone is missing two thirds of the picture.

I’m not sure if this is accurate, but for example: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/07/31/migrant-crossings-darien...

I expect the numbers will go the way they want. Perhaps because of the cruelty. Perhaps because tariff games make the economy uncertain.

Having a recession is a proven way to reduce illegal immigration, and we're at least starting to see recessionary signals.

If you come here we'll torture you, how very American.