Radley Balko's avatar

Radley Balko

@radleybalko.bsky.social

New at The Watch: Trump wants to deport more people than the populations of NYC, Chicago, and L.A. combined. It would cost $1 trillion+, and require a force larger than the U.S. Army. It also can't be done. But that isn't the point. It's about giving his supporters the human suffering they crave.

37 replies 351 reposts 871 likes


peppermintjack's avatar peppermintjack @peppermintjack.bsky.social
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this is a really great piece, thanks for writing it

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alan's avatar alan @a1anw.bsky.social
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America is close to becoming a tin pot African nation under one tyrant (albeit orange one). How is this happening in our generation? I thought we were the enlightened ones.

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BlepBork's avatar BlepBork @blepbork.bsky.social
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I’ve been beating this drum. It’s not resentment or economic anxiety or whatever the fuck. Its enjoyment of human suffering. Surprised that building a coliseum hasn’t been floated yet.

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thereal_attentive's avatar thereal_attentive @therealattentive.bsky.social
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That point where you realize *some* folks were watching Hunger Games and Squid Game from a different perspective than your own... The same folks that interpreted "Avoid it LIKE THE PLAGUE" to actually mean "lick all the doorknobs to own the libs"

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thadeus's avatar thadeus @thadeusk.bsky.social
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Every political ideology sets something impossible as its goal. It keeps people identifying themselves with the discourse, invested. Think of the practicality of having a 'War on Terror' or anything which purports to make the world safe. Political discourse is poisoning us, destroying us.

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Leigh G's avatar Leigh G @yogaleigh.bsky.social
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Nobody seems to mention what it wld do to the ag industry if they actually succeeded at this plan. And how the ag industry collapse wld impact food production, restaurant & grocery industries. By the looks of most of his supporters they cld experience some suffering of their own.

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Citizen E's avatar Citizen E @citizene.bsky.social
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MAGA = Nazi filth Prove us wrong

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Hens Breet's avatar Hens Breet @monospace.com
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Substack? Really?

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Roberta Ecks's avatar Roberta Ecks @robertaecks.bsky.social
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The only thing worse than being forced do the calculus of human suffering when you decide who to vote for is the consequences of making the wrong choice. Mr. Trump is measurably the wrong choice by a wide margin -- but math, as they say, is hard.

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Hare 🍉's avatar Hare 🍉 @haredurer.bsky.social
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Most of these undocumented people should have been amnestied years ago. The US needs a political party making the case for expanded legal immigration, but we don't have one of those.

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OK Doomer ☮️🏳️‍🌈🤷‍♂️🙈🙉🙊🔮's avatar OK Doomer ☮️🏳️‍🌈🤷‍♂️🙈🙉🙊🔮 @manqueman.bsky.social
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Read as much as I could before getting triggered—upset. And courts-wise it’s even worse than what you describe because there’s no reason to think that the Roberts court—where party comes before law—would block anything described.

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🎸Paul🎹's avatar 🎸Paul🎹 @paul.bsky.social
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And they’ll use that logistical impossibility as an excuse to develop internment camps. We learned nothing from history. Hitler had his round two after emerging from prison for his failed Beer Hall Putsch coup, Trump is plotting his now. Only saving grace is Trump is likely too old at this point.

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's avatar @rm4.bsky.social
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Save you a click...the US has 8.7 million jobs opening and 6.5 looking for jobs. Taking another 5-11 million out of the workforce would decimate the economy and spike inflation.

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Blue Meme's avatar Blue Meme @bluememe.bsky.social
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As always, the cruelty is the policy.

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's avatar @ricardocabeza.bsky.social
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Oops. Better nationalize the US Army for domestic attacks.

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Warhammerchick's avatar Warhammerchick @celticdragon1.bsky.social
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Once you start the machinery of mass arrests and arbitrary detention, you can't just turn it off. They know that and they want that

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skateintraffic's avatar skateintraffic @skateintraffic.bsky.social
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Why can't Republicans be normal (enjoying overseas suffering done by American munitions)?

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Ed Burmila's avatar Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social
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There's precedent for using a third party as a holding pen / prison for asylum seekers and immigrants in general. Just look at Australia. thebaffler.com/latest/out-o...

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Cliff Collipriest's avatar Cliff Collipriest @cliffc.bsky.social
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The first person Trump should deport is himself.

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The Professional Internet Bum's avatar The Professional Internet Bum @professionalbum.bsky.social
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So for those of you in the back, Nazi Germany also wanted to deport people. That didn't work so they built murder factories instead.

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Jeffrey Nonken's avatar Jeffrey Nonken @jnork.bsky.social
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Oh, that's easy. Just conscript the entire Republican party. ALL of them. And then lock the door behind them. MWAH HAH HAH HAH! The looks on their faces will be epic! ... OK, I may or may not need some coffee right now.

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Tim's avatar Tim @7amkickoff.com
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This is a good time to remind everyone that Hitler's first plan was to deport the Jews from Germany. Once they realized that was unfeasible, they reached the conclusion that there was only one final solution.

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Stephen S Power's avatar Stephen S Power @stephenspower.bsky.social
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Good essay, but it assume internees will get things like beds and toilets and not be left to die in the desert. Also you presume all cops and guardsmen will obey orders; many won't. And you don't account for resistance. Trump's death squads will find out what IEDs and house bombings are like.

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Lebanon Link 🌎 ✨ ❤ 's avatar Lebanon Link 🌎 ✨ ❤ @lebanonlink.bsky.social
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It will not be possible, and that's when they will resort to more efficient means. Hello 1941 Poland.

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's avatar @yozootoo.bsky.social
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The repiblican base doesn’t care what thier representatives do, only what they say.

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Rob Honeycutt 's avatar Rob Honeycutt @robhon.bsky.social
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Not to mention what deporting 20M working aged adults would do to the economy. He truly is Putin’s Manchurian Candidate.

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annaluna 🏳️‍🌈🎼🏴‍☠️🧶's avatar annaluna 🏳️‍🌈🎼🏴‍☠️🧶 @annaluna.bsky.social
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I think about this every time people talk about this plan. It’s impossible without a full force national effort with huge funding from Congress !

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Andy Craig's avatar Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social
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Deporting US citizens isn’t a theoretical concern either, there have been cases of it happening. Any kind of mass ramping up would inevitably sweep up more.

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No Gods, No Masters's avatar No Gods, No Masters @sylvainsylvain.bsky.social
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I think we need to stress, how if this vast order is enacted, it immediately puts everyone on it in fear. Which is, of course, the goal. Fascism *needs* every out group to be in terror, 24/7. We need a web series made NOW abt what it’s like to live in a Stalinesque purge time, teach the people.

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Serenity Now!'s avatar Serenity Now! @cpo10za.bsky.social
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Meanwhile…

bsky.app/profile/zeve...

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Saskia's avatar Saskia @sas-kia.bsky.social
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Thanks for sharing this!

Any chance you could follow @ap.brid.gy?

This will help your posts reach a wider audience on Mastodon & the social web. Folks over there would get a kick out of your posts. If you like this post, I’ll give you a boost & recommend you!

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Bill R's avatar Bill R @sawbux.bsky.social
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xox's avatar xox @mjr1.bsky.social
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If he wants to create Weimar-like inflation, this is the way to do it. (Of course, though, he's lying again.)

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Business Otter's avatar Business Otter @ottersimple.bsky.social
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Posted on a pro-Nazi platform. The banality of evil.

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's avatar @kenaima.bsky.social
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It would just be easier if THEY moved.

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reality check 🤔🤷‍♂️'s avatar reality check 🤔🤷‍♂️ @realitycheck.bsky.social
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Remember "lock her up"? Didn't happen. "Build a wall"? A few miles of fence. "Drain the swamp"? Yeah, right. "Deport them all" is the same thing. His MAGA minions care more what he says than what he does. Obviously, or he would have zero chance of election.

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