Politics

Rise In Deportations Means ICE Is Finally Doing Their Job

Published

9 years ago

December 28, 2017

(Via NewsWars)

Working with its partners throughout the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as among the private sector and with law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2017 continued a record of success that has positioned the agency as a public safety leader.

As directed by presidential executive order, the men and women of ICE began the year with a roadmap of guidance and support to accomplish its homeland security mission.

The agency no longer exempts any category of removable aliens from potential enforcement and its efforts are focused on enforcing the law and securing the United States’ border.

While this year’s results reflect a great deal of progress, Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of Director Tom Homan understands there is still much more work to do.

“Throughout the organization,” Homan said, “our deportation officers and special agents succeeded across a broad range of initiatives and operations. From disrupting and dismantling illegal drug trafficking networks to arresting and removing aliens, including criminals who are too often released back into our communities, our workforce came together in 2017 to do what we do best – enforce the law.”

As the largest investigative agency in DHS, ICE enforcement and investigative activities are handled by two distinct directorates; Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, and Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI.

In ERO, the most significant gains were made in administrative arrests and interior removals. Administrative arrests totaled more than 143,000; of those, 110,568 occurred after January 20, which is a 42% increase over the same time period last year.

Despite numerous stories and allegations in the media falsely accusing ICE of conducting indiscriminate raids and sweeps, the fact is that 92% of all aliens arrested by ICE this year had criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, were an immigration fugitive, or were an illegal re-entrant.

This supports the agency’s long-held assertion that its officers know how to prioritize enforcement without overly prescriptive mandates. According to Homan, “the directions from the top may change, but the consistency and excellence of the results delivered by these deportation officers is steadfast.”

Interior removals were also significantly higher in FY2017 than they were the year before. In FY2017, ICE removed more than 81,000 aliens from the interior of the country. More than 61,000 of those removals occurred after January 20, which is an increase of 37% over the same time period in FY2016. While the historic low in U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s (CBP) border apprehensions led to a slight decline in overall removal numbers, ICE’s strong interior enforcement efforts nearly made up the difference.

In addition, the number of countries who do not cooperate in the return of their nationals was reduced from 12 in April 2017, to just nine by the end of the year. Furthermore, the number of countries who are at risk of being labeled uncooperative has fallen from 47 to 36. The U.S. also applied visa sanctions to four countries in FY2017 for failure to cooperate, which sends a clear message: cooperate or face consequences.

The results achieved by the special agents of Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, in FY2017 were equally impressive.

HSI made more than 4,800 criminal arrests in national anti-gang operations, strengthening our efforts to uphold public safety. In addition, a renewed focus on identifying and dismantling the ultra-violent MS-13 gang led to nearly 800 arrests in FY17, an 83% increase over last year.

ICE is also on the frontlines of the fight against illegal narcotics trafficking that is contributing to the country’s deadly opioid epidemic. Our special agents seized approximately 7,000 pounds of heroin and more than 2,300 pounds of fentanyl, a drug so deadly, just a few grams can be lethal.

As Mr. Homan pointed out in a recent press conference, these statistics represent only a fraction of the success ICE deportation officers and special agents achieved in FY2017. A more detailed report of the agency’s results is available online.

Moving forward, Homan recognized, “there’s much more to do. We need to maintain the dedication shown by our personnel by matching it with more staffing resources. We need to address misguided policies and loopholes that only serve as pull factors for more illegal immigration.”

He stressed the need to continue targeting violent gangs like MS-13, and prevent them from rebuilding what ICE’s efforts have begun to dismantle.

Politics

Rob Sand Must Be Audited Along with LGI

Published

1 week ago

November 4, 2026

Populist Wire Editorial Board

Rob Sand won the Iowa governor’s race as the state’s auditor. That dual role demands immediate scrutiny of his own office and of LGI, the family business run by his wife, Christine Lauridsen Sand. Taxpayers have a right to know whether any public contracts, grants, or favorable treatment flowed between the auditor’s office and the company while he held statewide power. Iowa does not get a free pass on conflicts simply because the winner is a Democrat.

America First means accountability for officials who oversee public money. Sand built his career on auditing others. The same standard now applies to him and to LGI. Any overlap in finances, vendor relationships, or use of state resources must be examined by independent review before he takes the governor’s office. Working families in Iowa already face water-quality issues, budget pressures, and education concerns. They should not also wonder whether family business interests influenced decisions made in the auditor’s office.

An audit of Sand’s tenure and of LGI is the minimum required for confidence in the transition. If irregularities appear, they must be referred for further investigation. Sovereignty and basic fairness require that the next governor faces the same transparency he once claimed to enforce. Iowa voters deserve nothing less before he is sworn in.

Politics

2028: America First Dark Horse Must Rise

Published

1 week ago

November 4, 2026

Populist Wire Editorial Board

The 2026 midterms cleared the field. Democrats took Congress after voters punished high gas prices and the Iran war. Establishment heirs now carry that baggage. JD Vance’s odds slipped overnight. Marco Rubio remains tied to the same foreign-policy circle that produced the conflict. Neither can lead a clean America First recovery. The candidate must be anyone but Vance or Rubio.

That dark horse must run on sealed borders, an end to forever wars, energy independence, and trade that puts American workers first. Traditional values and biological reality in policy cannot be treated as optional. The midterms showed the cost of foreign entanglements and elite priorities. Working families want their government focused on home, not distant conflicts or cultural experiments. Only a figure free of prior establishment ties—and free of Vance or Rubio—can make that case without apology.

The next two years will decide whether the movement stays pure or dilutes into another round of managed decline. A dark horse who rejects globalist deals, defends sovereignty, and speaks plainly to the base can consolidate the realignment before 2028. The country does not need another caretaker from the current circle. It needs someone new who will finish what America First started.

Politics

Democrats Gave Ground on Their Wackiest Issues to “Win”

Published

1 week ago

November 4, 2026

Populist Wire Editorial Board

The midterm results show Democrats winning by dialing back the cultural extremes that defined their last several cycles. In Texas, James Talarico walked back earlier progressive positions on transgender issues to make himself viable in a state that rejected those policies for decades. Elsewhere, candidates who once embraced open borders, defund-the-police rhetoric, and identity-first messaging softened or ignored those planks and focused on costs, the Iran war, and gasoline prices. The public had already rejected the full agenda; the party simply stopped advertising the parts voters hated most.

America First voters never accepted boys in girls’ sports, men in women’s shelters, or sanctuary policies that prioritize non-citizens over citizens. Polling and prior elections already showed those positions as losers outside the coastal core. By muting them in red and purple districts while hammering inflation and foreign wars, Democrats could appeal to working-class Hispanics, independents, and some traditional Democrats who had shifted right. The strategy worked for one night because the economic pain was acute and the alternative was a party tied to high gas prices. It does not mean the underlying cultural preferences of the country changed.

Once in power, the same figures and progressive caucuses will push the old agenda again—Medicare for All, ending enforcement, and cultural mandates. The temporary ground they gave was tactical, not principled. Working Americans still want secure borders, biological reality in policy, and government that puts citizens first. The midterms proved the left cannot win by leading with its most extreme ideas. They also proved those ideas remain the party’s destination once the ballots are counted.