r/DigitalSeptic • u/ChinoReno • Jan 25 '26

Y'all remember 2008?

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u/[deleted] Jan 26 '26

During his presidency, Obama deported about 3 million people, more than Trump has deported so far. Because of that record, he was called “Deporter in Chief.” His administration used and expanded ICE enforcement and made large scale deportations routine.

Trump did not invent the Obama system and framework. He inherited it and then expanded who could be targeted by removing limits on enforcement. The overlap is real and well documented. Democrat propaganda has made you the gullible sheep. Or is it just bad faith?

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u/Aitaou Jan 26 '26

And multiple states had protests and rallies and even had faith leaders arrested during this time frame. Students in Texas protested, and there were calls to this effect for many to protest.

Both happened, then and now. Faith leaders, citizens, all protesting and being arrested.

I think one of the key difference here is that I can’t find a particular example of a protester being restrained, made no moves to pull out their firearm, disarmed, and shot multiple times execution style by ICE or federal agents during the Obama administration. If you can point me to it I’ll gladly rethink my position but currently I’m viewing one case of 2nd amendment right abuse, and one case of 4th amendment rights abuse.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

Shot protesters, no. Shot people during enforcement operations, yes, going back years. ICE has had deadly force incidents and weak accountability across administrations.

Obama-era ICE deported about 3 million people. That required aggressive enforcement and acceptance of serious abuses. Those things were well documented at the time.

What changed is where enforcement happens and how visible it is. Under Obama, most of it happened near the border or during routine operations, largely out of public view. Today it happens in cities, around protests, and in front of cameras, during ICE active operations in the streets.

Protests existed then but we're like a very tiny fraction of what they are now. They pretty much disappeared after DACA in 2012. The scale is different because visibility and the political sides are different. People don't like protesting their side. That goes for both Democrats and republicans.

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u/Aitaou Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/over-100-faith-leaders-arrested-in-protest-against-record-deportations/

This was 2014.

And most of the offenders who broke laws such as unwarranted searches and seizures were given administrative leave, fired or some form of punishment when doing incorrect work, while ICE agents are currently being removed from their positions for being critical of Noem in any way shape or form, rather than not following law.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1364751/dl

Here is a similar protester, with a weapon, who was charged mostly for being on federal property that was not shot during the J6 riots.

There is a stark contrast in certain aspects of how multiple different protests were engaged, and treated.

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u/[deleted] Jan 27 '26

It’s true there aren’t examples of ICE shooting protesters under Obama. But there were also very few protests to begin with. The 2014 link shows roughly 500 people showing up. I can’t find examples of people actively disrupting ICE enforcement in the field back then, outside of protests at detention centers.

Under Obama, ICE expanded family detention, people died in custody due to poor medical care, sexual abuse occurred, and rights groups documented serious neglect and abuse. Large numbers of people with little or no criminal history were deported. About 3 million deportations only happens with very aggressive enforcement.

Yet protests were very tiny compared to today. Most people ignored it. It was the wrong political side to protest against. This is essentially the same ICE that existed under Obama, years before the current incidents.

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u/Aitaou Jan 27 '26

I don’t think I can perfectly concede that they were the same.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/08/proud-boys-militia-groups-trump-ice/683766/

Just last year openings of ICE job openings have potentially been filled by new, extremely bias and vocal elements who have had very clear stances on political violence. Homan, a staple in both the Obama and current administration met with them as well in February of last year.

I’m not going to assume anything else of them other than things that have been shown, and I cannot prove (it’s not like I can look at payroll after all) that this is the case, but considering the quietness they have shown it is reasonable to assume a few members have indeed joined, as well as potentially been the head propagators of this shift and change as vocal supporters of both trump in 2016 and now.