The Liberty Daily 
One of the key messages in President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was a pledge for “Mass Deportation Now.” It was a popular slogan at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, WI. In his speech accepting the GOP nomination, Trump said, “To keep our families safe, the Republican platform promises to launch the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
In June of 2024, at a campaign event in Racine, WI, President Trump promised, “We’re going to have the largest deportation…We have no choice.”
Trump’s deportation promises had strong support among Americans, as a June 2024 CBS News poll showed. The results indicated 62% of Americans supported a “New National Program to Deport All Undocumented Immigrants.”
After widely promoting his policies on illegal immigration in the campaign, President Trump won a historic landslide in the 2024 election. He captured 312 electoral votes in 30 states, including all seven battleground states. It was also the first time since 2004 that a Republican presidential candidate had won the popular vote.
The 2024 election results proved the American people supported Trump’s pledge to begin “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.” Since his second inauguration, Trump has worked mightily to fulfill that promise.
From January 20, 2025, until May of 2026, the Trump administration removed over three million illegal aliens from the country. This included over two million who self-deported and 900,000 who were deported by the Trump administration. Another 900,000 illegal aliens were arrested.
This was a massive policy change from President Joe Biden’s administration that allowed approximately six million illegal aliens to enter the country during his term. Under Biden, the southern border was wide open, but fortunately, President Trump stopped the flow of illegal aliens into the country.
These policies are what President Trump promised to implement during his campaign. Not surprisingly, moderate Republicans are criticizing Trump for the success of his deportation efforts. Karl Rove, Republican strategist and commentator, said Trump’s policies “created a new problem.” He criticized the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal aliens in “major cities.” However, ICE needs to be operating in the “sanctuary cities” led by Democratic mayors because these areas have become magnets for illegal aliens.
Congresswoman Maria Salazar (R-FL) also blasted Trump for “immigration enforcement efforts” that “have gone too far.” She claimed that “In July, 50 percent of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record.” Of course, Salazar is mistaken, as everyone who illegally entered the country committed a crime.
She is sponsoring legislation that would “legalize and import perhaps 17 million migrants” and provide “cheap labor to many employers.” This bill is what the American people rejected in the 2024 election, for it represents the Democratic Party’s policies, not the Republican Party platform. Nevertheless, 17 Republican House members co-sponsored her bill, rejecting the will of the American people as expressed in the last election.
This criticism allegedly led to a rumored change in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies. On Saturday night, it was reported that DHS had ordered ICE officers to limit their arrests to violent illegal migrants.
By early Sunday morning, DHS had dismissed that rumor, posting that “No one is off the table. We will continue to arrest…all illegal aliens that come into our path. Anyone in our country illegally will be arrested and deported…ICE has initiated a nationwide public safety surge in sanctuary cities where our brave officers will be targeting criminal illegal aliens—many released from jails by sanctuary politicians—including murderers, rapists, child predators, and gang members.”
Despite the pressures from the business community, the media, the Democrats, moderate Republicans, and Hispanic activists, the Trump administration needs to stand firm on its efforts to remove illegal immigrants from the country. It has the support of the American people and is the right thing to do.
The opponents of Trump’s policies are on the wrong side of popular opinion and the wrong side of the law. Sadly, vicious leftists are opposing ICE agents with more than just protests; they are engaging in violence.
Since the beginning of the second Trump term, there have been 647 assaults against ICE officers, an increase of 1,700% from the same period in the Biden administration. According to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, these repeated attacks are caused by “vicious lies being spread by sanctuary politicians and their foot soldiers who are involved in anti-ICE riots and other acts of violence.” He claimed the leftist agitators are “putting the needs of illegal aliens ahead of the safety of American citizens.”
ICE officers have been labeled “modern-day Gestapo” by illegal immigrant supporters. For trying to do their jobs, these brave officers have been targeted for assault and have been the victims of unprecedented violence.
In the midterm elections, Republicans need to endorse the President’s deportation policies, for they are having tremendous benefits in many areas. This is one of the main reasons violent crimes are decreasing so rapidly nationwide. As noted by DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis, “Crime has fallen to record lows under the Trump Administration, including murders on pace to drop to the lowest level in 126 years. It’s no surprise that this drop in crime coincides with deportations of dangerous criminal illegal aliens. It is common sense. When you remove criminals from the country, crime rates fall.”
The reduction in illegal aliens through arrests or self-deportations is one of the reasons, along with declining birth rates, for the decrease in student population in public schools nationwide, creating openings for native-born children and allowing limited resources to be focused on citizens, not illegal immigrants.
For example, in Chicago, the student population in public schools decreased by 11,537 for the new school year. This will reduce worries about “crowded classrooms” and give remaining students better access to teachers and educational facilities.
For these reasons and more, Republican candidates should support the administration’s deportation policies and acknowledge the significant benefits for the American people.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian, and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from 1-2 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-9 a.m. & 6-7 p.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is the President and General Manager of WGSO Radio, a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance, and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and at Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com.
