> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://libertys-lens.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # No, Trump Didn’t Close the Border - URL: https://libertys-lens.ghost.io/no-trump-didnt-close-the-border/ - Published: 2026-03-18T16:50:10.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-13T16:49:19.000Z - Description: Why enforcement theater has replaced actual immigration policy - Author: Graham Baughman - Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1786639647847, #Import 2026-08-13 16:47 This article was originally created by [Liberaldad](https://open.substack.com/users/31922762) and is published here with their permission. We’re sharing it with our readers because we admire the clarity and urgency they bring to questions of immigration, enforcement, and due process — and because their passion reflects a deeply held commitment to issues that sit at the heart of Liberty’s Lens work. [Liberaldads NewsletterDaily thoughts on politics and possibly a few other things while dealing with this twisted timeline we live in.](https://esven99.substack.com/?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fcampaign=publication%5Fembed&utm%5Fmedium=web) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/da/86/da86ac05-de21-4736-8a14-89823a268247/content/images/2026/08/6c73a3e5-fd73-4616-8c1c-d4155419b0ff_1536x1024.png) There is a growing acceptance that DT has closed the border, that Mexico is no longer a point at which immigration is possible. Psychologically, it has been closed to much of the population. However, the border remains open as of today, 3/17/26. This is another dangerous effect of the gaslighting from the regime’s war on anyone with brown skin. Does it have a deterrent effect? Perhaps, but it also sets another false belief. The regime has managed to make you believe that the border was physically closed by DT all by himself, like he just slammed a door. It is a tricky issue that needs a nuanced approach to understand what is actually happening there. It is also important to understand that the border being closed is not the actual story. The story here is in the use of border policy as a pretext. The pretext is a war waged on people who are already living in the United States. It is a setup for anyone at any time to become a victim of the regime’s sadistic approach. We have to look to the past to get a decent understanding of what put us in this immigration catastrophe in the first place. For context, here are the numbers for total deportations under Obama, DT 1.0, and Biden. --- Liberty’s Lens is entirely reader‑supported. We don’t answer to corporate interests that dictate what we say or cover. If you find our work valuable, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription — or gifting one to a friend who’d appreciate independent, reader‑funded journalism. Thank you to everyone who reads, shares, and helps our work reach new audiences. [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) If a recurring subscription isn’t an option right now, we’re grateful for any support — including one‑time contributions using the link below. [Buy me a coffee!](https://donate.stripe.com/5kQ5kF0iLfTD2ihcPxeIw02?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) --- ### Deportations: 1. Obama (2009-2017) Over 3,000,000 removals. Peak deportation FY2012: 407,000 2. DT 1.0 (2017-2021) Between 1.2 million and 1.5 million removals. Peak deportation FY2019: 269,000. 3. Biden (2021-2025) Between 4.4 million and 4.7 million removals. Peak deportation FY2024: 271,434. 4. DT 2.0 (2025-2029) TBD *Just as a side note: Deportations and removals are synonymous.* What can these numbers teach us? I think it tells us two things. First, both Democratic presidents are responsible for more removals than DT 1.0\. Second, removal policies that focus on deterrence (Obama, Biden) rather than blunt force trauma (DT) are more successful. This speaks to the idea that violent tactics by ICE and CBP cannot possibly be the best method. What it does do is scare the population. They want to make us all fearful, wondering if we are next. I have 100 percent felt this just by merely writing here on Substack. That said, I am choosing not to let that fear win, but instead using it to help drive me to produce content that is both honest and factual. The regime relies on our ignorance and fear to be our undoing. I will not let that happen until I am forced to. What follows is a brief history of immigration reform that gives a more nuanced and accurate description of what has happened since Obama’s administration attempted to take a measured approach to allowing people into the United States. --- ### Obama In 2009, immigration reform became a major issue on Obama’s agenda. Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) was a bipartisan issue that both parties agreed to pursue. In a nutshell, the CIR was a 6-goal plan. Push money to the border for more enforcement agents, more equipment, and better technology. “Interior enforcement” was another goal under the CIR, which increased enforcement on visa overstays and the prevention of people working without a work permit. Additionally, a committee was assembled to evaluate and adjust visa availability based on economic conditions. There was a program to create a legal pathway for those who are residing in the United States without proper documentation. Lastly, a program was made to help immigrants adapt to living in the US. When reading through these policies, I noticed that there was no violent rhetoric attached. When DT made his announcement of policy changes to immigration, it was couched with words like “rapists, murderers, and insane people,” as if nine out of ten were criminals. This, of course, has been the modus operandi of DT, Stephen Miller, former Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, and all the people who have been duped into believing it. As stated by DT himself: > *The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. This was evident just this week when, as an example, a young woman in San Francisco was viciously killed by a 5-time deported Mexican with a long criminal record, who was forced back into the United States because they didn’t want him in Mexico. This is merely one of thousands of similar incidents throughout the United States. In other words, the worst elements in Mexico are being pushed into the United States by the Mexican government. The largest suppliers of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs are Mexican cartels that arrange to have Mexican immigrants trying to cross the borders and smuggle in the drugs. The Border Patrol knows this. Likewise, tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border. The United States has become a dumping ground for Mexico and, in fact, for many other parts of the world. On the other hand, many fabulous people come in from Mexico and our country is better for it. But these people are here legally, and are severely hurt by those coming in illegally. I am proud to say that I know many hard working Mexicans – many of them are working for and with me ... and, just like our country, my organization is better for it.*[*\[54\]*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration%5Fpolicy%5Fof%5Fthe%5Ffirst%5FTrump%5Fadministration?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io#cite%5Fnote-businessinsider1-55) These programs originally did not come from just one side of the aisle. When Obama was in charge, there were still a few adults left in the room. The decision on these policies was made without the need for violence or the need to send a horde of man-babies who know nothing about the law while terrorizing the people of our society. ICE was developed as an enforcement mechanism, but it was not supposed to be used as state-sanctioned terrorism as it is today. The regime shoe-horned them into this role. This wasn’t by mistake. ICE was originally used to apprehend violent criminals who crossed the border, attempted to cross the border after a final deportation order, or overstayed their visas. Nowhere in this use of ICE did it sanction the use of violence against its own citizens or even those who are suspected of falling under these categories. Anyone who is apprehended is entitled to due process; this has been settled law through the Supreme Court for decades. It DOES NOT MATTER if you are a citizen. --- ### DT 1.0 When DT was made president for the first time, he made his racism abundantly clear. It lays the groundwork for his idea of what the United States looks like under his administration; he clearly believed that people of Muslim descent were all bad. So once again, he framed brown people as evil without any direct knowledge and wrote an Executive Order that banned people from thirteen countries due to their spiritual beliefs and/or geography. The Executive Order was struck down by the Supreme Court twice before the language was redone in a way that wasn’t as profoundly racist and bigoted, and it was replaced by Executive Order 13780 (which is still profoundly racist, thank you, Roberts Court), titled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entr**y** into the United States. It placed a 90-day restriction on entry to the U.S. by nationals of [Iran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), [Libya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libya?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), [Somalia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), [Sudan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), [Syria](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), and [Yemen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemen?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), and barred entry for all refugees who did not possess either a [visa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel%5Fvisa?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) or valid [travel documents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel%5Fdocument?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) for 120 days. Once again, laying the groundwork for more racism and hate by calling people from thirteen majority Muslim countries terrorists. This was 2018, as he continued his quest to bring out the worst of people by calling forth those who find it okay to judge others based on skin color, religion, sex, language, or any other bigoted perspective. --- ### Biden Biden entered office in a defensive posture, devoting much of his early political capital to unwinding the most aggressive Trump‑era executive orders. Instead of building forward‑looking immigration policy, the administration first had to dismantle a system reshaped around cruelty, deterrence, and the routine targeting of people for low‑level or non‑violent violations. Three of the first actions Biden took were to stop the construction of the southern border wall. Not only was the border wall one of the worst decisions our country has made, but it was also a tremendous waste of money. (Too bad DOGE couldn’t recoup those dollars.) Most of all, it broke a mountain of laws that DT managed to subvert by falsely declaring a national emergency. You can find a list of laws that DT’s administration broke to build that monstrosity [here.](https://thinkprogress.org/border-barrier-waivers-f27e30362472/?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io#:~:text=National%20Environmental%20Policy,Religious%20Freedom%20Act.) Another Executive Order Biden signed was to reduce the amount of power ICE had under DT. Of course, this was again reversed in DT 2.0. Biden also ended the series of three [executive orders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive%5Forder?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) imposed by Donald Trump on 13 countries, most of them Muslim, in January 2017.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration%5Fpolicy%5Fof%5Fthe%5FBiden%5Fadministration?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io#cite%5Fnote-Bradner-2)[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration%5Fpolicy%5Fof%5Fthe%5FBiden%5Fadministration?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io#cite%5Fnote-:0-3) The Biden administration was still in favor of expedited removal. Biden resumed this action but did not invoke it in a manner that involved the vicious and cruel policies of the previous administration. Things like family separation, the brain-child of Stephen Miller, the ghoul most responsible for these awful ideas. This was their idea of deterrence. That policy is something I wouldn’t do to my worst enemy, let alone a poor family looking for a better life. Despite the Biden administration taking a more measured approach to deportations, Title 42, which the Biden administration revived, allowed for the [removal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportation%5Fand%5Fremoval%5Ffrom%5Fthe%5FUnited%5FStates?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) by the U.S. government of a person who had recently been in a country where a [communicable disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicable%5Fdisease?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) was present. However, many civil rights organizations disputed this action, and the rule was struck down and then reversed by the Roberts Supreme Court. Ultimately, the Title 42 rule was repealed on May 11, 2023. On the same day (May 11, 2023), the Biden administration issued new restrictions on asylum seekers at the Mexican border to discourage people from arriving at the border illegally. --- #### DT 2.0 During the 2024 election, Trump has stated that his plan would follow the ‘Eisenhower model,’ a reference to the 1954 campaign [Operation Wetback](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation%5FWetback?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io), another racist slur, stating to a crowd in Iowa. Per DT: > *“Following the Eisenhower model, we will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.”* Once again, the DT administration focused on the cruelest of possible immigration models. It involved more mass sweeps and the outward pursuit of people, very similar to the ICE raids of today. As a general rule, this policy was ultimately deemed a failure. The goal of DT is to deport millions per year. His intent since 2016 has been to subvert the rule of law by using the Alien Enemies Act; however, we are in no conflict with Mexico except that which DT has created. He wants to invoke the Insurrection Act to suspend due process. Despite the Insurrection Act not being invoked, the regime is currently ignoring due process in many cases, despite no official announcement. At this point, he has no proper justification for declaring an insurrection. The people have remained non-violent except for a few skirmishes. The only true violence being perpetrated is being done by the uneducated, wannabe cops who pretend like they are big, tough guys by wearing army fatigues. They want to divide us and cause the mob mentality to take over. This is what it’s all about. It is simply the pursuit of power. They are trying to make us “fed up.” That is the reasoning behind all this cruelty. They are trying to get us to lose our collective temper. Luckily, unlike the toddlers in the Oval Office, the people who believe in this fight for justice know they are right, and we know what the Constitution says, unlike many of the sycophants who bow to DT. The only reason this *ICE/Gestapo* can maintain any relevance is that the wannabe dictator has stolen healthcare dollars from us and given a bigger budget to ICE than the FBI. Let us not forget that all those billions of dollars appropriated for ICE are coming from our wallets. That is our money running around the streets, pointing guns at people. Those tax dollars are being used as a weapon against us, which is such an upside-down concept to me. I am paying my government to illegally bomb places like Iran, kill innocent civilians in our streets, and violate our privacy, all while ignoring due process. What a goddam farce. The use of ICE internally is setting up a pretext. It is the design that the men in charge believe will put a stranglehold on the American public. So far, we have proven that we have a thicker skin than they expected. They are counting on us to wear down. They truly think, with their coy smiles and sarcastic remarks, that they have us all figured out. What they will figure out is that we are relentless. We are becoming more and more united as the egos in Washington, DC continue to shrink. It is time to show this administration what it means to “Find Out.” I am more proud of my fellow patriots out in the streets with me, with steely resolve and determination in their eyes. We are stronger now, and we will continue to build. We have turned the tide, and let’s ride that blue tsunami home. *Love you all.* *Erik* *(Liberaldad)* [Support Liberaldad Directly!](http://buymeacoffee.com/esvensson92?ref=libertys-lens.ghost.io) --- **Sources:** - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation\_Wetback - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration\_and\_Nationality\_Act\_of\_1965 - https://web.archive.org/web/20111020135021/http://www.immigrationamerica.org/component/content/article/11-homepage-articles/21-comprehensive-immigration-reform - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration\_policy\_of\_the\_first\_Trump\_administration - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration\_reform\_in\_the\_United\_States - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration\_policy\_of\_the\_Biden\_administration [Subscribe now](#/portal/signup) [Leave a comment](#ghost-comments-root) > — Liberty’s Lens > > This article is provided for public interest reporting and analysis. 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