Ethnic Cleansing, Corporate Immunity
Powered by project Trump's immigration crackdown is designed to terrorize workers - not prosecute their bosses.
If you are a regular reader of Mad Mother, you know that I usually focus on issues that mainstream media either ignores or buries beneath the noise. When I seer an authoritarian situation, a hidden provision in a bill, or a quiet Project 2025 power grab, I ask the hard questions. And, if the answers aren’t obvious, I dig until I find them. So you don’t have to.
This week, I have been asking:
Why does Trump keep claiming that immigrants under Biden and Obama is the result of “open borders”?
Why haven’t we heard of any employers being arrested in the latest wave of workplace raids?
Since the moment Donald Trump descended the Trump Tower escalator in 2015, he and Republican Party leaders have used xenophobic propaganda to justify cruel, and often unlawful, immigration policies. He has labeled immigrants criminals and scapegoated them for economic and social challenges. in every speech, at every rally, he has blamed Obama and Biden for a so-called “open borders” crisis. But, these claims aren’t supported by the data.
President Obama, in fact, presided over some of the highest levels of deportations in U.S. history. Both his and Biden’s administrations generally pursued broader, more balanced enforcement strategies than Trump. They targeted threats, protected families, and emphasized due process. Trump, by contrast, has favored theatrical raids and cruelty. His second term is even worse, led by unqualified, racist loyalists emboldened by Project 2025. His latest propaganda, that his ethnic cleansing is a necessary response to Democratic immigration failures, is not just a lie. It’s projection.
Deportation Facts
Obama (2009-2016) - 3.2 million deported
President Obama deported more people than any president in U.S. history. Early in his term, deportations were high, but concerns about family separation led to a shift toward targeting “felons, not families.” Obama prioritized convicted criminals, repeat immigration violators and recent border crossers. In 2012, he launched DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to shield undocumented youth from deportation. 1
Trump (2017-2020)) - 1.0 million deported
Despite his claims of being “toughest on immigration,” Trump deported far fewer people than Obama. His administration’s hallmark was cruelty. His family separation policy resulted in children being placed in cages and thousands of families permanently broken, due to negligent tracking and foster placement. 2
Biden (2021 - 2024) - 1.1 million deported, plus 3 million expelled under Title 42
Title 42, a pandemic-era public health order, was used to expel rather than formally deport 3 million people between 2021 and 2023. Then, In FY 2024 alone, ICE deported 271,000 people—the highest number in a decade. Also in 2024, 82% of deportees were apprehended at the border by CBP, and the rest by ICE. 3
The “open borders” claim? Pure fiction. Enforcement under Biden intensified—just without the sadism of Trump’s policies.
Employer Prosecutions vs. Worker Arrests
All employers are legally required to complete Form I-9 to verify a new hire’s eligibility to work in the U.S. Penalties includeForm I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification Form). Penalties include fines of $272-$2,701 per missing or incomplete form and $676-$27,018 and $676 - $27,018 for knowingly hiring undocumented workers. Repeat violations can result in criminal charges and jail time.
Obama-era ICE shifted strategy in 2009 from mass workplace raids to prosecuting employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers. Large I‑9 audits and fines became prioritized over worksite sweeps. In 2010, Grand America Hotels rehired unauthorized workers using a shell company, after a prior warning. They forfeited nearly $1.95 million to DHS to avoid criminal prosecution. 4In 2012, two Houston, Texas companies each paid $2 million for widespread I-9 fraud. 5
Biden’s administration prioritized workforce-wide targeting, but no measurable increase in employer prosecutions materialized. Enforcement budgets remained tilted toward detention, removal, and raids - not compliance audits.
Trump’s first term promised employer accountability. In practice? Nothing. Only one employer, in Tennessee, was ever criminally charged. The sentence? Probation and community service 6.
Now, in Trump’s second term, the cruelty is escalating - but still only for workers .In the July 2025 raid on Glass House Farms in Camarillo, dozens of undocumented workers and minors were arrested. Some were seriously injured. But, as of today, no employers were charged. Raids in California, Texas, and Nebraska followed the same pattern: arrests, injuries, deportations. But, not a single employer is prosecuted. Workers vanish into detention centers or are deported to countries they’ve never lived in, while their bosses stay on the job—untouched and unfined.
What About the Law?
Here’s the irony:
Working without papers is usually a civil offense. Hiring someone without papers can be a criminal offense. But, in the Trump/Project 2025 regime, justice protects the boss, not the worker.
Follow the Money
Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) doesn’t fix this imbalance; It supercharges it. ICE’s current $10 billion budget will balloon to $100 billion by 2029. But there’s no line-item funding for employer audits or prosecution. 7
That’s not an oversight. It’s a choice.
Here’s where the money is going: 8
$29.9 billion – ICE operations: 10,000 new officers, deportation logistics, detention expansion
$45 billion – New detention beds (100,000 capacity)
$46.5 billion – Border wall construction and maintenance
$6.2 billion – Surveillance tech: biometrics, facial recognition 9
$3.3 billion – Immigration courts and processing
Obama conducted record deportations with the equivalent of $7.5 billion in today’s dollars 10 Why does Trump need ten times that?
Conclusion: Target the Worker, Shield the Boss
Trump’s immigration agenda isn’t about law and order. it’s about fascist control. It’s about creating a two-tiered system where workers live in fear while employers profit freely. And it’s about using taxpayer dollars—your dollars—to militarize communities, fund corporate surveillance contracts, and build a white Christian country, brick by taxpayer-funded brick.
If this were truly about stopping illegal immigration, employers would be facing charges, too. But they’re not. In Trump’s America, fear is for the worker. Immunity is for the boss.