Friends, it's a tale of two ICEs. On one hand, Democrats and progressives think the Trump Administration is using its tyrannical powers to hunt down and expel every "immigrant" they can find, especially the ones with green cards and even citizenship! Yes, Democrats and progressives really are this gullible. On the other hand, the pace of deportations isn't anywhere close to the level that would be required to send every illegal immigrant home by the end of Trump's term. What's more, the Trump Administration recently decided to dial down raids on restaurants, hotels, and farms -- many of which depend on illegal immigrant workers. That doesn't exactly suggest that Trump's campaign to "end" illegal immigration is all that serious. If employers will continue to get a pass on hiring illegals, then they might as well stay. My guess is that the political furor over ICE and its raids will continue, and raids in deep blue cities will continue, because Trump probably enjoys tormenting them, but what we don't know is if the overall pace of deportations (and self-deportations) will build further, or whether, in the end, the demographic and economic effects of all this hullabaloo will be negligible. The verdict is out.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk2kpk817vo
https://www.breitbart.com/news/ice-raids-paused-on-restaurants-hotels-and-farms/
In other news, the markets are recovering today because there are signs that Iran wants to resume negotiations over its nuclear program. Perhaps, having successfully struck some targets inside Israel, the Iranians feel that they've saved face enough to, well, cave to Western and Israeli demands? Let's hope so.
There were some great big "No Kings" protests across the country on Saturday, and I must say I was even impressed by the turnout in my hometown. Nevertheless, when we consider that only about 1% of the population was involved in these demonstrations, their significance is highly debatable. Polls indicate that a lot of people hate Trump -- no surprise there -- but his approval and favorability numbers have actually improved recently, so it's not quite time for the lefties to declare victory, I'd say.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-kings-biggest-protest-u-172552711.html
Meanwhile, the big military parade in D.C went off without a hitch. Note that it really wasn't a celebration of Trump's birthday at all. It was a celebration of the U.S. Army and its glorious heritage. Leave it to the liberals to find that offensive, huh?
Finally, a Minnesota man has been arrested after shooting two power couples associated with that state's Democratic leadership. It begs the question: are we developing a culture of assassination in this country? Can we expect a rash of such incidents? State lawmakers obviously represent softer targets than Congressmen, Senators, Supreme Court Justices, cabinet secretaries, presidents, etc., but all public officials are vulnerable, given their need to be in the public eye. Luckily law enforcement generally does an outstanding job of protecting these luminaries, which is what makes this assassin's impersonation of a police officer such a diabolical twist.