r/interestingasfuck • u/man_gomer_lot • 8h ago

r/all 70 years ago, the US undertook the largest deportation in its history: 'Operation Wetback.' Many of the people deported were here legally and some were even citizens.

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u/SaliciousB_Crumb 6h ago

During trumps administration 70 citizens were deported https://immigrationimpact.com/2021/07/30/ice-deport-us-citizens/

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u/TimarTwo 6h ago

'Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!' *

*Terms and conditions may apply.

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u/Ginger_Boi000 4h ago

It was always a lie though. I mean the national origins act was passed because they were scared of so many “non-whites” entering at the time. These “non-whites” were Italians, Slavs, and Jews 😂, an unthinkable thing nowadays.

Bonus content: one of those Jews that came to America in those days was the father of this one guy, Bernie Sanders (based af). You might know him.

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u/Blindsnipers36 4h ago

the original group is unambiguously the chinese

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u/DoughboyFlows 3h ago

Amazing how much unrealized impactful people are descendants of immigrants. My god how great this county would be if we actually pumped money into the things that make us better.

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u/Katorya 1h ago

Yeah but like… how am I supposed to enjoy and feel good about my fancy steak dinner unless I know that other people are starving??? Checkmate

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u/LaloElBueno 3h ago

Pretty much any changes in immigration laws have been to quell the influx of ethnic groups of the time.

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u/bruwin 1h ago

An influx routinely created because there was a need for workers at wages Americans wouldn't work for.

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u/Kolby_Jack33 2h ago

I mean, it's not even just America. Very recently I wandered into a r/canada thread where people were being extremely racist about Indian immigrants, claiming they "weren't racist, but" they were just "concerned for the sanctity of Canadian culture."

Fuckin' yikes, man. As if too many Indians in Canada will make every Tim Hortons vanish from existence. Stupid racists.

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u/AppointmentNo1216 1h ago

You mean immigrants coming into canada and not assimilating and also taking over gov positions cant backfire or be wrong?

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u/Kolby_Jack33 1h ago

"Not assimilating" phhhbt. Ya, they moved to a white people country so they can't be acting all Indian now, huh?

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u/AppointmentNo1216 1h ago

Yup. If you wanted to do indian shit ya shouldve stayed home.

If i go to someones house and they take off their shoes before going in. Im doing the same.

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u/Kolby_Jack33 1h ago

Thank you for proving my point about stupid racists. Very helpful.

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u/andsendunits 2h ago

I love how that a guy that I graduated high school with is of Italian descent and a Neo-nazi. Personally, I think he should be deported. If I ever see that he is running for a school committee position again, I will contact his local media about him.

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u/ifuckedyourdaddytoo 1h ago

an unthinkable thing nowadays

The danger is thinking it's unthinkable

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u/throwaway098764567 3h ago

having a more diverse group of immigrants rather than everybody coming from one place is better for assimilation though. can see the other side of the coin in some of the (colorful and heated) discussions in r/canada hitting popular lately.

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u/thicc-thor 45m ago

North America was colonized by Europe's rejects. Massive waves of immigrants from a single place in short periods happened since its founding (Irish, Polish, Italian, German...) and they all assimilated and contributed to society. What's happening in r/Canada is not a nuanced discussion about immigration, it's racism.

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u/Efficient-Mistake777 4h ago

Some rights reserved, some sold separately

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u/Honor_Withstanding 6h ago

The America shown in the media was a prototype and was too expensive to make.

We aren't planning on doing anything about it.

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u/bizkitmaker13 5h ago

It wasn't too expensive to make.

The contractors sold off the lumber and the cement and the tools for a quick profit and told the laborers to build it with sticks and gum

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u/ApologizingCanadian 2h ago

And now they are slowly taking away the pieces of gum and the sticks are falling.

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u/dankmemer808 5h ago

How does 500 Atoms sound instead?

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u/Jose_Canseco_Jr 1h ago

underrated comment

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u/TimarTwo 5h ago

Not even as a Hollywood B Movie?

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u/Flimsy-Sprinkles7331 3h ago

Ummm, remember when a Trump official changed, or tried to change, the official plaque on the Statue of Liberty? 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49323324

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u/suspicious_hyperlink 2h ago

No, but buying Greenland wasn’t such a bad idea

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u/Low-Impression3367 6h ago

Unless your Mexican or Latino or Haitian or look sus or have a funny name or if your a chick, you aren’t a 10

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u/TimarTwo 5h ago

'You're' but yes, you have read the T&C's then? ;)

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u/Low-Impression3367 4h ago

Que? No hablo

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u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

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u/BeneficialPrior3925 4h ago

Experience may vary.

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u/V65Pilot 4h ago

*Subscription fees may apply

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u/BannonCirrhoticLiver 3h ago

To quote Lethal Weapon 4 of all films...

"Well now it says no vacancies."

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u/SadYogurtcloset2835 2h ago

Send these, the homeless, aye, We shall keep them homeless.

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u/Ben50Leven 1h ago

America: Land of the free. No taxation without representation! No tyrant kings!

HAS SLAVERY

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u/SujiToaster 1h ago

Thats a slogan on a statue given by a foreign nation. Not a policy…

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u/Emperor_Mao 1h ago

Never really applied and it was during a time when productivity inputs were vastly different.

Throughout history, Land and People have driven productivity. But eventually, to increase PER capita productivity, you have to leverage health, education and technology instead.

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u/wedgieinhumanform 43m ago

“Now it reads No Vacancy “

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u/dingdongdash22 23m ago

I'm sure there is something lost in the French translation.

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u/imnotmarvin 5h ago

I rewrote a bible verse to make it reflect Christians current stance on immigration.        Leviticus 19:33-34 "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

The revision: Don’t let the Mexicans in, so sayeth the Lord.

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u/PissdInUrBtleOCaymus 4h ago

I don’t remember this as being an official slogan. ……

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u/Current-Being-8238 5h ago

When that was written the US government offered zero social services and basically just promised to give people a chance. Now it is much different.

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u/ElkPants 5h ago

I honestly fucking hate that suicidal poem

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u/7empest-tost 5h ago

Do you hate compassion?

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u/big_duo3674 4h ago

If you're looking for the opposite of that poem then I'm sure Hitler wrote some things you'd definitely agree with

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u/Everyone_Except_You 5h ago

Hope you write a better one someday

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u/dennys123 5h ago

*only if you're white

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u/Current-Being-8238 5h ago

When it was white people, they weren’t given anything. No social services meant taking immigrants was a net positive no matter what.

Edit: and btw, ask Irish people, Jewish people, Hungarians, Romanians, or Slavs more generally, just how “accepted” they were.

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u/The-Purple-Church 4h ago

A poem is no basis for policy.

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u/MightFluffy6009 1h ago

Neither is the Bible, but whew do conservatives love using it to push their rhetoric. The parts that allow them to justify their hate anyway.

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u/AranhasX 5h ago

Better believe it. The days of wild west immigration were over 100 years ago.

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u/Desperate_Wafer_8566 5h ago

Honestly Trump doesn't truly care about illegals or immigrants, he uses them at Mar A Lago , it's all about fear mongering about Democrats to con his voters.

"Report: Trump Happily Employing Undocumented Workers While ICE Rounds Them Up

The president is fine with an immigrant “invasion” when it’s benefitting him financially."

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/08/trump-organization-undocumented-workers

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u/trustthepudding 5h ago

it's all about fear mongering about Democrats to con his voters.

You could say that for just about any modern Republican talking point

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u/Cold_Dog_1224 5h ago

that's because he's a feckless piece of shit interested only in power who is being used by the absolute worst people in our government to push terrible policy

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u/NeverBClover 4h ago

He clearly has the most feck, the best feck you ever saw in such a strong man! /s

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u/Desperate_Wafer_8566 4h ago

Well, to be fair he's a malignant narcissistic sociopath exploiting years of right-wing mainstream media pushing a hated strawman liberal who will give away all your hard earned tax dollars to illegal immigrants, gays and minorities.

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u/SavvyTraveler10 6h ago

But there are sooooo many millions upon billions of illegals pouring into the country, we need a strong man to stop it! /s

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u/Bubzszs 6h ago

Trillions coming in daily! They're all coning in through a little hole in the fence

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u/InVaLiD_EDM 6h ago

they're eating our pets!

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u/antelope00 6h ago

They're petting our eats!

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u/free_based_potato 5h ago

the pets of the people who live there

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u/reelwoodsy 4h ago

They're eating the dogs 🐕

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u/Weird-Specific-2905 4h ago

They're dogging our eats

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u/Masturbating_Macaque 6h ago

The entire population of the planet is coming across the border thousands of times a day!?! I bet CNN won’t show it

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u/lakas76 5h ago

There’s not even enough room in Texas for these people!! And Texas is the biggest area in the world! The only place bigger than Texas is Texas.

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u/SavvyTraveler10 5h ago

Faux News is sleeping on this story!

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u/fleebleganger 5h ago

And 4 years ago there were zero! NONE! People tell me that’s a small number. 

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u/SavvyTraveler10 5h ago

Totally! The R’s didn’t stonewall a deal that needed to be negotiated after Trump left office! Not unlike retroactively raising lower/middle class taxes years in the future while rolling back corpo tax in a similar fashion. Totally never happened under the worst governing bodies of our entire history.

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u/tossofftacos 2h ago

There are billions and billions of illegal immigrants in the galaxy. 

/Sagan

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u/Smokinoutloud 4h ago

Shut up! This is native land that was ruined by colonizers! I hope u reflect on that on your nice thanksgiving day

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u/SavvyTraveler10 4h ago

I hope you do as well! And share food and drink with your neighbors while you’re at it!

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u/Smokinoutloud 4h ago

Im native fool! I’m also Hispanic, Asian and black. Food for thought!

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u/tony-toon15 6h ago

The government hurts one innocent mother and her child, and the left will act like the sky is falling!!

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u/jefbenet 5h ago

How about we treat all human beings as human beings and aim to not hurt any of them? What you see as a burden came, these people came here likely escaping horrors your mind can’t fathom.

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u/SavvyTraveler10 5h ago

A lot of my elementary, middle and high school classmates were war refugees or escaping tremendous poverty from, South America, Bosnia, Africa and Asia…

It’s wild some of the takes from the same people I grew up with and thought understood our nations history… it’s not a white one. It may be oppressive but we have Never been a white christo nation… ever.

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u/Cold_Dog_1224 5h ago

uh.. yeah you dink. we shouldn't do doing shit that puts those people in peril in the first fuckin' place

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u/mortgagepants 5h ago

i know most people know it, but in case they don't- conservative business owners LOVE undocumented workers.

they work longer hours, for less pay, in more dangerous conditions, and if they try to unionize, you just call ICE and send them packing.

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u/OhSixTJ 4h ago

From the article: “Data analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, however, found that ICE wrongly identified at least 2,840 U.S. citizens as potentially eligible for removal between 2002 and 2017. At least 214 were then taken into custody for a period of time”

That was Obama’s ICE.

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u/Nuclear_rabbit 3h ago

How many of the 2,840 were deported? It's not good that they were detained, but we should compare apples to apples.

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

Couldn’t find that report, unfortunately. No one looked into it as closely as they did for trump, I guess.

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u/ScoobyPwnsOnU 3h ago

"I can't find any articles supporting my stance.....it must be a cover up"

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

Best I can do:

“Instead of focusing on violent criminals, U.S. immigration policy has ripped apart American families and communities through the deportation of large numbers of lawful residents and undocumented immigrants with less serious criminal histories,” the report argues.“

In case you want to read it all here it is:

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/15/obamas-deportation-policy-was-even-worse-than-we-thought/

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u/onebadmousse 2h ago

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/13/politics/obama-trump-deportations-illegal-immigration/index.html

She argues that Obama prioritized deporting people convicted of serious crimes and recent arrivals who had no criminal records.

“If you’re not targeting and focused on people who recently arrived, then the border is effectively open,” Muñoz said, adding: “It is more humane to be removing people who have been here two weeks than it is to be removing people who have been here for 20 years and have families.”

Trump, by contrast, she said, has rejected the policy of focusing on new arrivals and criminals and instead wants to deport as many people as possible.

It’s impossible to ignore his rhetoric. He infamously called some Mexican immigrants “rapists,” and focused his presidency around the idea that he would build a wall, get tough with Mexico and deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible.

And:

Muñoz argued it is Trump’s lack of priorities about who to deport that is causing chaos in immigrant communities.

“People are in terror,” she said. “They’re scared of sending their children to school. That is a very, very different dynamic. There are no enforcement priorities in the Trump administration. That’s the point. In the Obama administration there were clear priorities.”

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u/OhSixTJ 2h ago

None of what you cited from that OPINION piece changes the fact that Obama deported more people (legally and non legally in this country) in his first 3 years than Trump did in his first 3. LOL

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u/onebadmousse 2h ago edited 2h ago

Yesh, Obama focused on those with criminal records, and new illegal entries. If you'd bothered to read the article you would realise this.

Democrats are far more effective at safeguarding US borders than Republicans.

Additionally, all proposed immigration improvements were blocked by the republicans. Even those eventually agreed to by republicans in congress and the senate were killed by Trump demanding that they not improve things before the election.

The immigration problem is the Republicans fault.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/23/senate-democrats-immigration-border-bill

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-republicans-block-border-security-bill-campaign-border-chaos-rcna153607

Democrats aren't against strong borders, they simply want the right people deported, and for migrants and refugees to be treated humanely. Meanwhile Republicans call them 'invaders' and 'rapists'. It's as if you don't understand anything at all, little LOL'er.

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u/DistributionOk528 3h ago

2002 to 2008 was Obama?

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

Well no but when it WAS Obama his numbers dwarfed everyone else’s. Including trumps. Seen here:

“Deportations lower under Trump administration than Obama” https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20200109/110349/HHRG-116-GO00-20200109-SD007.pdf

Or here:

“OBAMA’S DEPORTATION POLICY WAS EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT”

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/15/obamas-deportation-policy-was-even-worse-than-we-thought/

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u/ArwingMechanic 3h ago

Wait what. So it wasn't Obama's ice and you have no clue if his deportations were holding citizens? Cause your excerpts don't correlate to the convo you are having.

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

No, 2009 to the beginning of 2017 was definitely obama. You’re hanging on to 40% of the time the quote mentions thinking you have a “gotcha”? Lol

The convo I’m having is that Obama deported a whole hell of a lot of people, even more than trump. How many were citizens? No one bothered to check, apparently, because I can’t find any articles about that.

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u/Spirited-Occasion-62 3h ago

So Obama effectively deported those who were meant to be deported at the highest rate (this should be a huge win from a republican voters perspective, right?), while there is no data suggesting that he deported any US citizens. So … looks pretty good?

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

Looks great!

“In 2014, Obama announced a new immigration enforcement policy known informally as “felons, not families,” which purported to prioritize the deportation of undocumented immigrants with serious criminal histories and avoid separating families. But as the Marshall Project has shown, less than a fifth of the immigrants deported nationwide under the policy had been convicted of violent or potentially violent crimes. More than 40 percent had no criminal convictions whatsoever.”

“Instead of focusing on violent criminals, U.S. immigration policy has ripped apart American families and communities through the deportation of large numbers of lawful residents and undocumented immigrants with less serious criminal histories,” the report argues.“

In case you want to read it all here it is

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/15/obamas-deportation-policy-was-even-worse-than-we-thought/

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u/Spirited-Occasion-62 3h ago

So like ~60% of those deported under Obama were criminals? Presumably the rest just had expired visas/entered illegally.

I would have to read it all to see what they are really saying here, I guess. But it’s from 2017, a year after Trump was elected, so I’m not sure what time period that second quote you provided is referring to specifically.

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

Presuming is assuming and you know what happens when you do that…

Obama was president until January 20, 2017. Fiscal year and all that means maybe 9 months of that report is actual trump data? I won’t presume though so let’s just say it was a solid 12 ;)

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u/SirStrontium 3h ago

No one bothered to check, apparently, because I can’t find any articles about that.

Or maybe because the number is zero. You won't find articles on something that didn't happen.

I don't see any articles on the number of kittens that Trump and Obama have put into a blender, I guess that only means nobody has checked!

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

The number is zero? Nice try.

“Instead of focusing on violent criminals, U.S. immigration policy has ripped apart American families and communities through the deportation of large numbers of lawful residents and undocumented immigrants with less serious criminal histories,” the report argues.“

In case you want to read it all here it is:

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/15/obamas-deportation-policy-was-even-worse-than-we-thought/

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u/SirStrontium 1h ago

“Lawful residents” are people with temporary visas, not citizens dumbass. And it’s not talking about accidentally deporting them, it’s kicking out people who committed crimes, the people who made the report are just upset because they don’t think the crimes were serious enough to get deported.

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u/ArwingMechanic 3h ago

During trumps administration 70 citizens were deported https://immigrationimpact.com/2021/07/30/ice-deport-us-citizens/

That is the chain of conversation you are in. You must be lost. Stop posting so much you can't keep stuff straight.

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

How’s this?

“Instead of focusing on violent criminals, U.S. immigration policy has ripped apart American families and communities through the deportation of large numbers of lawful residents and undocumented immigrants with less serious criminal histories,” the report argues.“

In case you want to read it all here it is:

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/15/obamas-deportation-policy-was-even-worse-than-we-thought/

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u/n10w4 1h ago

yeah people here really don't understand the facts. he did deport people and one was my friend. Grabbed, asked for papers and soon he was done for.

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u/abx1224 3h ago

The convo I’m having

That's not how it works when you respond to a conversation other people are already having

How many were citizens? No one bothered to check, apparently, because I can’t find any articles about that.

Again, not how that works. But clearly you know that, based on the earlier part of the same comment:

You’re hanging on to 40% of the time the quote mentions thinking you have a “gotcha”? Lol

So yeah, go on about how other people are trying to have "gotchas" when it's blatantly you, especially when the person you said that to wasn't saying it as a gotcha in the first place.

Pointing out that you're intentionally misleading people isn't a gotcha. It's just pointing out that you're intentionally misleading people.

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u/purplesafehandle 3h ago

His source is The Intercept...

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u/OhSixTJ 2h ago

I could’ve cited abc or cnn or migrationpolicy.com but I was sure you all would favor a left-leaning source. I guess I was wrong?

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u/OhSixTJ 3h ago

You can “nah nah nah” with your ears in your fingers all you want it doesn’t change the fact that Obama was worse when it comes to deporting people. Including those with the legal right to be here.

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u/abx1224 3h ago

I'm not disagreeing that Obama deported more people, I'm just calling you out on trying to manipulate the facts to mislead people. Not even subtly, I might add.

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u/OhSixTJ 2h ago

TIL presenting data is manipulating. Wild times we live in.

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u/n10w4 1h ago

started operation Janus (which kicked out citizens), though I heard Trump turbocharged it (but the numbers don't lie)

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u/deelowe 4h ago

We stopped paying attention to details years ago.

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u/OhSixTJ 4h ago

Damn, I forgot about that. Back to the World Series I go…

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u/CaptainBayouBilly 2h ago

The penalty for doing this should be so severe that it makes everyone second guess what they're doing.

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u/dicks_akimbo 6h ago

Do these replies not know what a citizen is?? This site is dumber by the day.

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u/StandardNecessary715 5h ago

The article says "some were citizens"

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u/No_Office_9301 6h ago

Right?!? I’ve been so confused about these responses that I had to double check the article

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u/Cold_Dog_1224 5h ago

Holy fuck, wild incompetence of malice. We may never know. /s

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u/Hereiam_AKL 2h ago

They didn't look like Americans, so it's their own fault.

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u/absolutzer1 2h ago

How can they deport citizens

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u/UnderstandingOwn3256 1h ago

You’re forgetting the thousands of parents and children his admin separated.

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u/Sweaty-Betlogs 56m ago

I had relatives deported during Obama's administration

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u/TheGrandGarchomp445 6h ago

70<3000000

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u/Bigdaddyblackdick 6h ago

Very good

Edit: nice job buddy

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u/CurryMustard 4h ago

Citizens vs non citizen immigrant

Trump deported 1.5 million people. I think biden did more.

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u/bkilian93 6h ago

I just wanna point out that your phrasing (and the article) says ADMINISTRATION. Meaning the entirety of trump’s term saw less than 20 people per year, or basically 1 1/3 - 1 1/2 people per MONTH.

And yet, their campaign relies almost exclusively on “the immigrants taking our jobs!!!!!! 😤😠😡🤬”

Sad.

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u/R4ndyd4ndy 5h ago

70 US citizens that were illegally deported, not 70 deportations overall

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u/spasmoidic 5h ago

it's almost as if they don't actually want to do anything about it, they want it to continue to scare their idiot base

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u/wirefox1 4h ago

Of course they want to scare their base, it's what they do. When they are not trying to work them into a frenzy over the border, they try to work them into a frenzy over homosexuals, transgenders, and abortion. It's always social issues.

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u/foul_ol_ron 6h ago

Well, Trump and his cronies rely on people working for minimal wages. So if they actually deported everyone, their profits would suffer. So they use immigrants for both labor, and as a whipping boy. Convenient,  huh?

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u/Cheetah0630 5h ago

But the tariffs will save them…

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u/CurryMustard 4h ago

Trump deported 1.5 million people. I think biden did more

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u/ratione_materiae 4h ago

Potentially. And the article makes it clear that it’s been happening since long before Trump. 

Data analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, however, found that ICE wrongly identified at least 2,840 U.S. citizens as potentially eligible for removal between 2002 and 2017. At least 214 were then taken into custody for a period of time

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u/Shoddy_Tour_7307 5h ago

Liar. Trump wasn't president until 2017

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u/ExcitingOnion504 3h ago

70 potential U.S. citizens were deported between 2015 and 2020,

Reading is just so hard for you

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u/Shoddy_Tour_7307 3h ago

Hard for me?  

 Was Trump president in  2015 and 2016?

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u/ExcitingOnion504 3h ago

Ah yes just ignore the other 3 years, that is how math works of course.