The media sure loves the term "deportation force"

A couple of weeks ago, Allahpundit brought up the subject of plunging arrests of illegal immigrants on the southern border. One might argue that this was either a momentary blip in the data or even a suggestion that the coyotes were just getting more clever, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Fox News was quoting the head of the Border Patrol union yesterday, saying that illegal immigration is absolutely declining and it’s all because of you know who.

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“Whether you lean left, right, or you’re in the middle you have to be a fan of what [Trump’s] done for the border patrol, for the border security. He’s done more in first 100 days than the last two administrations have done in 16 years,” Brandon Judd, Border Patrol Union President and active border patrol agent told Stuart Varney during an interview on the FOX Business Network.

In March, there were more than 16,000 undocumented immigrants apprehended and illegal border crossings as a whole saw a 30 percent drop in February, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

So we’re ramping up our efforts to locate, apprehend and deport illegal aliens and the number of crimes being considered as triggers for prioritized processing has been expanded. That seems to be having a dampening effect on enthusiasm among those considering coming here without following the legal process. That’s good news, right? You might think so, but we’re seeing a new trend in the mainstream media this month which tends to color the story in a very different way. This recent entry from the Washington Post is a prime example, describing the administration’s efforts in terms of constructing a nationwide deportation force. (Emphasis added)

The Trump administration is quickly identifying ways to assemble the nationwide deportation force that President Trump promised on the campaign trail as he railed against the dangers posed by illegal immigration.

An internal Department of Homeland Security assessment obtained by The Washington Post shows the agency has already found 33,000 more detention beds to house undocumented immigrants, opened discussions with dozens of local police forces that could be empowered with enforcement authority and identified where construction of Trump’s border wall could begin…

Immigrant-rights advocates called the plans an unnecessary waste of money and resources that are aimed at scaring the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom have lived in the country for more than a decade.

Although Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly has said DHS is not pursuing mass deportations, Trump’s executive orders broadly expanded the pool of undocumented immigrants who are deemed a priority for removal.

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Rather than wringing your hands over whether or not there’s some sort of “mass deportation force” shaping up, perhaps you might consider a different approach in covering this story. What’s going on here might have been described in an earlier and gentler era as law enforcement. An expanded pool of law enforcement officials seeking to arrest and deport those who violate our long standing immigration laws is not some sinister shadow government plotting to institute the New World Order. They’re upholding the law.

Note also how the Washington Post quickly executes their go-to move of citing “immigrant-rights advocates” when criticizing these policies. They once again join with their colleagues at other major newspapers in conflating the concept of “immigrants” with illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants who follow the rules have nothing to fear from Border Patrol or any related DHS agents. They aren’t the ones breaking the law. But the media is tiptoeing their way right up to the line of declaring such law enforcement activity to be a force for evil in the world. For the moment all they can do is trivialize it and claim that it’s a foolish waste of taxpayer money (funny how you’re suddenly interested in the deficit), but the implications are pretty clear.

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And all of these efforts are “aimed at scaring the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants” in the hive mind of the media? Good! That’s not actually the intention because what we’re really trying to do is get them out of the country, but if you scare them into self-deporting then that’s just a bonus. This repeating pattern of deceptive reporting has long since become tiresome. It seems as if the journalism community will scrape up any excuse to decry aggressive law enforcement programs. Just a few weeks ago CBS was actually citing one expert who claimed that illegal immigrants might stop paying their taxes because they’re so frightened by Trump. That’s the problem we’re supposed to be focused on? That they might stop paying taxes? That wouldn’t be an issue if they weren’t here in the country working illegally to begin with, guys.

In the future, when we hear the chattering classes sounding the alarm over a “national deportation force” we should all join right in… with a cheer. If the headline of the day involves the government actually enforcing the law, that’s a reason to applaud, not to head to the fainting couches.

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