So it's interesting - this isn't new if you're in aviation, the redditors on /r/flying, /r/aviation, etc basically summed this up but it's just interesting that the floor to post an article is what is presented here. Just eerie the closer you are to a subject the more you see through the news.
But basically, yeah if you also go on the pilot facebook groups, you'd see alot of gossip about the flights happening and such too.
andsoitis · 1h ago
> Though flights have been a part of US immigration operation for years, the speed and scale of the ICE program today is unprecedented. Since Trump's inauguration, there have been more than 1,000 deportation flights to other countries, up 15% over the January to July period last year, according to Witness at Border.
What this is really saying: Trump administration continues long-standing US government policy (incl. previous Democratic administrations) of deporting flights , improving effectiveness by 15%.
A couple of questions arise for me:
a) is this a good policy?
b) is the execution being done in a legal manner (due process, etc.)?
c) why did the Democratic Party not advertise their immigration enforcement to the electorate, when that was probably the most foundational issue the opposition ran on?
woodpanel · 55m ago
Re c)
Propably a result of wheighing the options here: curbing the enthusiasm of your opponent's base vs. that of yours. You loose more of your own base than you're going to win from the opponents.
From this perspective, it can be quite logical why the DNC stayed silent about this. After luring your base in with "enforcing rule-of-law is racist"-rethoric, admitting to enforcing the law would be a bit of political suicide.
jonathanlb · 1h ago
If ICE, subcontractors, and the federal government and are doing nothing wrong, why do they need to hide?
the_third_wave · 1h ago
Because "not doing anything wrong" offers no protection from activist mobs who have their own ideas about what is right or wrong.
woodpanel · 1h ago
With the rise of these tracking services a cat-and-mouse-situation was foreseeable all along, especially for security related type of flights.
Probably already happening for intelligence operations. I assume the obfuscation makes sense for deportation-flights, but one could argue that keeping it transparent would be a political win. So what might be the reason? Keeping the involved staff safe?
shortrounddev2 · 1h ago
Does it seem like hacktivism is at an all time low? In the 2010s there were a lot of groups calling themselves anonymous which attacked petty tyrants at the state and local level who were trying to cover up crimes. Now we're diving headfirst into a fascist takeover of American government and it feels like the only hackers you hear of anymore are criminals or state actors from eastern europe
Although I'd say it's kinda true that they're far more interested in attacking Russia and Israel these days than they are attacking the US.
shortrounddev2 · 15m ago
If they're targeting Russia, then they're playing the opposite role that Wikileaks did
woodpanel · 1h ago
> a lot of groups calling themselves anonymous
That is of course one way to put it. Antoher would be to consider these groups part of the "intelligence community".
shortrounddev2 · 1h ago
I dont see why the IC would do some of these things. Like the Steubenville rape case, for example
Hikikomori · 1h ago
Buy 1 way ticket, get free return ride, subscribe for more travel hacks.
telesilla · 1h ago
But the hotel really was a let-down.
tiahura · 1h ago
Authorities’ dereliction of the duty to secure the border for decades is hard to fathom. There’s literally 40 years of deportation backlog.
That this program is frustrating goals of “La Resistencia” - the source for the article - is probably a sign that the program is a good one.
kubb · 1h ago
During Trump’s first administration, the total number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. continued to rise.
I wonder what he needed all those illegal immigrants for…
tiahura · 57m ago
Getting caught up in personality soap opera politics is unhelpful. If you are either ‘for’ or ‘against’ Trump, aim higher.
To answer your question, recent comments by Trump suggest it was to mollify agriculture. Ag is going to face some serious labor supply issues and it would probably be wise for the administration to work with them to ease the transition.
kubb · 27m ago
So they failed to "protect the border" because they needed labor. Shocking.
tiahura · 9m ago
I agree there’s been a lot of short-term thinking involved. It was easier to stick with a broken ag system that had become dependent on illegal aliens than to deal with the pain that structural reform would involve. However, in the end, that just leads to a bigger mess and more to clean up.
Forget ICE though, that this anonymity is allowed is rather frightening.
I'm predicting headlines in the coming years about drugs being flown into the U.S. under cover of ICE flights.
(Some of us can remember the drug flights in the 1980's that paid for arming the Nicaraguan Contras.)
But basically, yeah if you also go on the pilot facebook groups, you'd see alot of gossip about the flights happening and such too.
What this is really saying: Trump administration continues long-standing US government policy (incl. previous Democratic administrations) of deporting flights , improving effectiveness by 15%.
A couple of questions arise for me:
a) is this a good policy?
b) is the execution being done in a legal manner (due process, etc.)?
c) why did the Democratic Party not advertise their immigration enforcement to the electorate, when that was probably the most foundational issue the opposition ran on?
Propably a result of wheighing the options here: curbing the enthusiasm of your opponent's base vs. that of yours. You loose more of your own base than you're going to win from the opponents.
From this perspective, it can be quite logical why the DNC stayed silent about this. After luring your base in with "enforcing rule-of-law is racist"-rethoric, admitting to enforcing the law would be a bit of political suicide.
Probably already happening for intelligence operations. I assume the obfuscation makes sense for deportation-flights, but one could argue that keeping it transparent would be a political win. So what might be the reason? Keeping the involved staff safe?
Although I'd say it's kinda true that they're far more interested in attacking Russia and Israel these days than they are attacking the US.
That is of course one way to put it. Antoher would be to consider these groups part of the "intelligence community".
That this program is frustrating goals of “La Resistencia” - the source for the article - is probably a sign that the program is a good one.
I wonder what he needed all those illegal immigrants for…
To answer your question, recent comments by Trump suggest it was to mollify agriculture. Ag is going to face some serious labor supply issues and it would probably be wise for the administration to work with them to ease the transition.