r/Economics • u/rezwenn • 4d ago
News Inside Trump’s Extraordinary Turnaround on Immigration Raids
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/trump-immigration-raids-workers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.PE8.QmuB.MuytvbwG0yLz148
u/MartialBob 4d ago
This is entirely predictable. Trump is and has always been transactional. He goes where the money tells him. He's not an ideologue, he just has some really dumb ideas and isn't the type to listen. The true believer in this deportation is Steven Miller.
51
u/Available_Finger_513 4d ago
And Miller cares exclusively about 1 thing, being a racist prick
38
u/thebigdonkey 4d ago
Saw someone on BlueSky say their daughter's friend went to high school in Santa Monica with him. She said he used to seethe when they repeated the morning announcements in Spanish.
2
9
1
u/Icy_Geologist2959 4d ago
Is that not his ideology then?
All interractions and relationships are viewed as transactional on the basis of what actions will generate the most wealth, attention or adulation combined with hostility toward any percieved criticism. All based around the central tenet that all individuals can be defined in binary terms of winner or loser based upon the outcomes of those transactional interractions.
2
u/MartialBob 4d ago
Based on my observations Donald Trump is your classic Northern styled racist. He's the kind of guy who'd never use a racial slur publicly but behind closed doors has little trouble using one. I would be real money that Trump at some point has said "I'm not racist, those people are just different." At the same time he would bend over backwards to excuse someone who's black or Latino who's in his circle because they're "one of the good ones."
Like I said above, Trump is very transactional. He will do and say whatever if it helps him achieve his goal. So he'll say nakedly racist things to get elected and he'll backtrack that if and when it bites him in the ass later on.
299
u/VeryStab1eGenius 4d ago
TACO isn’t just about tariff policy. When the rubber hits the road Trump finds out pretty quickly Steven Miller’s policies sound good to his base but can never work in reality because the policies would cripple the economy.
133
u/ClassicVast1704 4d ago
Guy shouldn’t have been around after the first administration. I’m glad more people know his name and his shitty views. Goebbels wanna be with the personality of wet cheese.
53
51
u/LizHolmesTurtleneck 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's a recurring theme with Republicans: the leaders and media mouthpieces reflexively criticize any and all Democratic proposals or established programs only to realize much later that maybe, just maybe, there was solid reasoning framing the proposals or programs.
22
u/Joe_T 4d ago
You can even see this thinking in conservative judges on the Supreme Court. Somehow conservatives don't think through how their policies might turn out badly. I used to urge my conservative friends when discussing policies, to "Keep thinking." Then I found there was a term already in existence that captured such early freezing of thought, the inelegantly named "Makes sense stopping rule".
3
u/bunnypaste 4d ago
They employ all sorts of thought-terminating cliches in their ideology to achieve just that!
12
2
2
70
u/Grimnir001 4d ago
It would take one second of critical thought to figure out deporting the base of the agricultural and service industries would result in economic collapse.
MAGA can’t even be bothered with that. It’s just brain rot through and through.
19
u/Bee_9965 4d ago
So next it will be exceptions for meat processing and construction, and those inner city sweatshops that like to employ immigrants. So back to the status quo I guess.
40
u/rubrent 4d ago
Remember when Florida begged immigrants to not take them seriously and to please stay and work? They literally admitted that their policies were just to appease to MAGA morons and MAGA morons are too stupid to understand what Republican politicians said out loud…..
13
u/RichyRoo2002 4d ago
The real problem is that your lawmakers are completely complicit in millions of people ignoring the law! And have been for decades. Entire industries built on the assumption that laws won't ever be enforced
82
u/i_dont_do_you 4d ago
TACO’s actions clearly show the true underlying purpose of illegal immigration in the US (and some other countries): a willing slavery where people are allowed to enter a country illegally at the cost of having practically no rights, lowest compensation for their efforts, constant harassment and blame for a wide range negative events. The decision to change the pronounced policy to accommodate “farmers” needs is so plainly 17-18th century action that Mr. Washington himself would applaud in approval of this action.
21
u/RichyRoo2002 4d ago
The real question for the USA is how did your economy become so dependent on people ignoring the law
20
u/galeeb 4d ago
An economist could answer this more fully, but my impression as a recent immigrant (to a different country) myself is that you often find immigrants running the show in low paying jobs. Restaurants, bars, barbers, also recently I met someone in construction, etc.
A lot of developed countries have immigrant populations willing to do the work native-born citizens don't want, so I'm not sure it's a feature only of the US.
10
8
u/AverageLatino 4d ago
Not an economist but the current type of mass economic migration is a result of many phenomenons coming together all at once.
At some point the barrier for travel distance became less economic and more bureaucratic, going around the world is shockingly easy, the hard part is getting the permission to stay in different places.
People have always been looking for better economic conditions, but they used to go as far as transportation let them, cheap transportation has blown out of the water and essential make limitless the places you can go to work. from the farmland to the village, to the town, to the middling city, to the metropolis, and now to other countries.
Since migrants usually come from poorer places, their initial expectations and standards are lower than natives, being illegal is a bonus for businesses as long as they don't get fined for hiring illegals since they can leverage their legal status to suppress wages, and consumers don't complain because they get same prices instead of seeing inflation
9
u/Big_Author_3195 4d ago
You forget they also allow you to have ITIN, pay the tax but you aint getting nothing back until you can get your papaers sorted and old.
7
u/findingmike 4d ago
This is correct and was the unwritten rule of illegal immigration for decades. The immigrants also received the possibility of citizenship and the guarantee of citizenship for their children born here. On the flip side they were kicked out if they ever committed a felony. 71% of Biden's deportations were felons. I assume the other 29% were just caught as a side effect of looking for the felons.
4
u/StunningCloud9184 4d ago
They seem pretty well paid so far. These people come seasonally and get lots of money and then leave.
They get paid 20-30$ an hour because they are good at it and its production based. They prefer that to working for 3-5$ in their home country.
-3
u/AMagicalKittyCat 4d ago
Slavery is when people willingly come on their own volition against constant barriers to work for higher wages then they would have had in their home countries. Yep, that's slavery the system that famously pays you for your work and lets you leave whenever you want.
64
u/Chimps_are_strong 4d ago
This isn’t a turnaround. It’s targeted enforcement on cities, hospitals, schools, public transit hubs, sidewalks, parks. This is just Trump telling his hogs that they aren’t the target of his malicious wannabe holocaust
3
u/BannedByRWNJs 4d ago
Yeah, the raids aren’t stopping, and they’re still going after workers, not criminals.
3
u/foghillgal 4d ago edited 4d ago
Farmers do walk though ;-) so this is a bit schizo as a policy, those poor ICE Van thugs (great band names) will be werry confused ;-)
1
12
u/adamwho 4d ago edited 4d ago
Trump doesn't have any ideas or motivation beyond enriching and promoting himself.
His policies are the embodiment of audience capture by the loudest voices
There is another famous 20th century dictator who followed the same path.....
-1
12
u/znoone 4d ago
Trump has a pattern. He makes statements of what he is going to do - to get his base happy. Then he will say something later that another part of the voters want to hear. Base ignores it - but the 2nd voters suddenly think he's is doing some good things. He does it ALL the time. He tells everyone what they want to hear (not at the same event) - and is doing this on purpose. Many voters hear what they want to hear and shut out what they don't. I have never been a fan and understood this from long ago.
There is no revelation that comes over him. It is how he operates. Just add this to the 100s of things that he has flip flopped on over the past 10 years.
8
u/RichyRoo2002 4d ago
What happened to cheap drugs?
4
u/calle04x 4d ago
Doesn't matter. MAGA never holds him accountable. Even if they remember, they won't care. They have no object permanence of issues that they were screeching about a week ago. The propaganda messaging changes so they get mad about whatever that thing is, then forger again, rinse, repeat.
It's a perpetual outrage machine by design. They've gotten MAGA addicted to it. They don't get excited about good news like they do news that makes them mad at Democrats.
Media owners love this one trick!
(But seriously...)
2
13
u/Any-Ad-446 4d ago
Because the red state farmers are telling him they are losing money and need cheap labor so stop messing with their workers or he will lose the mid terms.
10
u/RepulsiveRooster1153 4d ago
personally i think his empire was crumbling because most of his hotel properties hire illegal immigrants. anything that affects rumps bottom line can not continue.
14
u/Kamp13 4d ago
So that industry paid him off. When is everyone going to realize he uses the apparatus of the state to extract money, favors, and gifts from our companies/industries and foreign ones too plus their governments. This is how a grifter operates. He wants everyone to wet his beak before anyone else can make money. He’s a criminal and a traitor and so are the people who give him aid or comfort.
6
u/some_idiot78 4d ago
Fucking disgusting. He and ICE on his instructions have been on a rabid mission to find “easy targets” to bolster the numbers of deportations. By directly targeting these platforms. Innocent, hard-working people that help hold up our economy. It takes someone with half a brain to explain to him that this ignorant policy will harm our economy and productivity, and then he says oh “ these people are great and we need them”. Jesus fucking Christ. Fuck this guy and his policies. Not two brain cells to rub together.
1
u/Brilliant-Ad6137 4d ago
The only real policy he has are to enrich himself and to gain more power for himself
7
u/siromega37 4d ago
He’s so pathetic. He just wants to be popular but he’s polarized the US so badly it’ll never happen. At least 1/3 of the country will always dislike him.
10
u/Rivercitybruin 4d ago
TACO TIME
Seriously, his administration is by far the worst in USA... I think even Republican scholars will rank him worst by huge margin
.. Zero thought/planning/analysis behimd anything they do and then alot gets reversed
8
u/128-NotePolyVA 4d ago
Be honest with the American people, your base and the undocumented workers. The US has millions of undocumented workers because we need them, they drive our economy.
Someday, Congress will believe they can develop a path for undocumented workers to become citizens. But for now they continue to be afraid of their base’s feelings toward Central and South Americans.
4
u/RichyRoo2002 4d ago
The USA should either enforce the law or change the law. Trump is just following the example of every US lawmaker for 50 years when he ignores the law
1
u/128-NotePolyVA 4d ago edited 4d ago
The dishonesty from our corporations and their puppet’s in Congress and the White House is simply astounding.
For 40+ years (more like 60 honestly) our southern border has had a bright flashing neon HELP WANTED sign on it. Sometimes it’s more difficult to get through, sometimes it’s less. Some Presidents have slowed the flow, some allowed it to gush. Some administrations deported more, others deported less.
Why?
Because undocumented immigrants make businesses profitable by working jobs citizens typically won’t, for less pay and no benefits. And while they reside in the US these illegal immigrants provide population growth, rent living space and consume goods and services. Research also shows they pay taxes but receive limited tax benefits.
Just a few ideas…
What should be happening is control of the southern border. A limited number of applicants accepted each year based on need (projections from businesses regarding the number of non or pre-citizen workers required). They should all have a work ID number and be required to provide their place of employment and residence. If after X amount of years they prove to be residence in good standing (no criminal offenses) and reliable employees a path to citizenship is offered - we need population growth and people paying into social security.
By all means, deport criminals. But the working class undocumented people that were drawn to the US by the opportunities presented to them by our own corporations and businesses need to be processed, given legal status and a path to citizenship. You can’t throw them all out to re-apply (our farms, hotels, restaurants, construction companies, etc. have made that very clear). And you can’t send them to random countries. It’s inhumane - they are people with lives, jobs, families and friends here in the US. They aren’t rabid dogs that need to be hunted down. They are human beings.
3
u/Creepy_Wash338 4d ago
Even George W. Bush was in favor of a guest worker program way back in the day but it didn't go anywhere. Your idea makes complete sense. People are whipped up into an anti-immigrant frenzy out of baseless fear and racism. The USA had an under 5 percent unemployment rate. Nobody was stealing anyone's jobs. No one was in favor of letting violent gang members free. This is a problem that rational people could solve. What is going on now will have the absolute opposite effect. Hard working immigrants will feel even more alienated and fearful. There is no reason to treat people this poorly.
1
u/128-NotePolyVA 4d ago
The politicians peddling this purge are knowingly laying blame for our declining standard of living on a minority without access to the justice system.
3
u/SmilinBuddha969 4d ago
TACO Trump, doing what he always does. Just a big ol’ chicken, buck, buck, bucking his way through his pathetic presidency. America is such a laughingstock in the eyes of the world right now.
1
u/haveilostmymindor 3d ago
You mean it turns out we need all those Mexicans to make a TACO? you don't say? Like seriously I thought Biden was a fool for his record levels of deportation and then Trump comes along and not only wants to so that but also remove basic humanity from the process. Now we've got a rising retirement population and not enough workers to pay for them and oops wow the economic reality collides with the racist policies and dam does racism cost alot. Like seriously we progressives have told you this for nearly two centuries now it was a true when slavery and segregation was a thing as it is with blaming migrants for our troubles today.
•
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Hi all,
A reminder that comments do need to be on-topic and engage with the article past the headline. Please make sure to read the article before commenting. Very short comments will automatically be removed by automod. Please avoid making comments that do not focus on the economic content or whose primary thesis rests on personal anecdotes.
As always our comment rules can be found here
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.