JANUARY 29, 2026 – First, a disclaimer. I’m not an immigration lawyer or immigrant rights advocate. Decades ago, I handled a few procedural hearings in several pro bono asylum cases that my firm had taken, but my involvement was otherwise insubstantial. In other words, I’m not an expert nor do I claim to be one. My approach to the subject is practical, personal and necessarily political—given how immigration has been hyper-politicized by the Chief of Chaos.
From my perspective, “Chief of Chaos” is more than a snide moniker. It focuses on what’s really going on.
In a disturbing and pointed aside, as Gruppenführer Bovino in combat fatigues is replaced by Obergruppenführer Homan in a tailored business suit (paid for by cash in a paper bag), I’ve just learned that Thao, a Hmong friend of our son Cory, was picked up by ICE yesterday, soon after the replacement was effective. Thao, by the way, is a military veteran. No one has been able to discover where he’s being detained (many others who’ve been nabbed here in Minnesota wind up in Texas; what happens after that is often unknown. Whenever anyone is released, they’re dumped on the street outside the facility—without phone or money[1]).
Today, federal agents appeared at the small shop where Cory does contract work. The agents questioned the owner about his hiring practices. Cory, a naturalized citizen, escaped scrutiny, but he departed in fear.
And this is happening in the United States of America.
Again, in my capacity as a non-expert, I’ve long questioned the premise behind the “get tough” immigration policy now in force under the Trump regime. It’s a classic “solution in search of a problem”; one big red herring.
The two principal arguments underlying the steroidal round-up of mostly non-white people are: No. 1 – We can’t have 11 million people running around who aren’t following the law; and No. 2 – We can’t have a bunch of violent criminal-immigrants killing, raping and pillaging . . . all across America.
Let me address what’s first in order of absurdity. That would be Argument No. 2. In percentage terms, violent criminals constitute a smaller portion of the total immigrant (“legal” and “non-legal”) population than of the total “born here” (citizens by birthright) population. This has been the case for many years. In other words, Argument No. 2 rests on an empirically invalid premise.
But the real absurdity of the argument rests an even flimsier foundation: the implicit assumption that a person’s status as an “illegal alien” renders the person less subject to the jurisdiction and powers of the regular criminal justice system—local, state, federal—than a “legal alien” or full-blown citizen. Wholly apart from immigration law, we have 50 robust state criminal justice systems, plus the powerful federal one; systems backed by highly trained law enforcement, investigation agencies, prosecutorial resources, and correctional facilities—in some cases, even execution facilities. Are these existing systems not equipped to handle the “worst of the worst,” be they citizens (by birth or naturalization), green-card holders, visa holders, asylum seekers, and other immigrants, legal and “illegal”?
The red herring just got bigger.
As to Argument No. 1—that we can’t have on the loose in this country 11 million people in non-compliance with the law—it too is a red herring. Whenever I hear a figure tossed out—irrespective of context—I need at least one other number to evaluate that first figure. In this instance, the most basic “other number” is the population of the United States, which currently is pushing 342 million if we can still believe the U.S. Census Bureau, post-DOGE. On a percentage basis, the 11 million “illegals” on the loose amount to 3.2% of the total population.
This percentage can be approached from several angles. One would be the crassly bigoted viewpoint, as in “I don’t like brown people” perspective—assuming, of course, for the sake of argument, that nearly 100% of the 3.2% are “brown people.” Another consideration, however, is the breakdown among the 3.2% as between those who are contributing to and those who are detracting from the economy. It stands to reason that the net is decidedly positive, since the principal motivation for people to flock to our land is to better themselves financially—not by way of hand-outs but by virtue of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in a growing, full-labor economy. Deport those 11 million—and disrupt the commerce and social infrastructure that depend on them and their families—and we will incur costs that far outweigh whatever doubtful benefits could be derived from expulsion.
Already the negative impact of the ICE raids is rolling across our communities. Recently on local “rightwing” radio (“Patriot Radio,” part of the “Salem Network”) I heard an hour-long talk show devoted entirely to the extreme labor-shortages faced by local builders, most of whom rely heavily on immigrant labor. Meanwhile, because most of those laborers are now in hiding, fearful of leaving their homes, they’re not bringing home paychecks. Add to these ranks, people who’ve been snagged and detained by ICE. In the absence of a paycheck, rent/mortgage payments aren’t made. Landlords, in turn, can’t pay their mortgages, and the problems spiral.
Now, again, help me understand the tangible benefits of rounding up 11 million people (after deducting the agency’s $75 billion budget).
But here’s the kicker regarding Argument No. 1: If “we can’t have on the loose 11 million people in violation of the law,” what about the estimated 200 million motorists who violate speed limits in this country? I’ve heard of no Republican, no FoxNews or NewsMax commentator, no Administration official, no rightwing radio host, podcaster or influencer advocating a mega-multi-billion-dollar “crack-down” on speeding in this country. The big red herring just got bigger and redder.
If what we’ve been sold is a big red herring—a problem of too many “illegal aliens”—what’s really going on here is part of a larger pattern of chaos created by a crass, cruel Chief of Chaos. Not only does he thrive on chaos; he depends on it to cover his tracks and distract from his failures. It’s a pattern that has colored his entire adult life, and most likely his adolescence and childhood.
What formed around Trump’s 2024 victory was a perfect storm: a man of vengeance, not ideas, once again being handed the reins of power, surrounded by people who had plenty of ideas packaged and ready to roll in Project 2025. The new team made it clear from the outset that they intended to bust every item in the china shop of stable rule, including the display cabinets, the wall coverings, the ceiling tiles, the floorboards, the POS terminals, the plate glass windows, even the fire sprinkler system. Nothing was to be left undamaged. And the smashers were given free access to the till—first come, first serve—during “breaks” in the action. Half the country watched in horror, while another third began to murmur, “But I didn’t vote for this,” and the rest cheered the devastation, saying, “It was about time!”
Now this rampage has led the country down a dark path of gangland fascism. Yet it’s part of a larger pattern of intentional chaos, with troubling side trips to Greenland, Venezuela and Iran. And while we here in Minnesota concentrate our attention on resistance against ICE, the Administration turns its gangsters loose on the Fulton County election center in Georgia. The word is that they’re investigating fraud in the 2020 election, despite three recounts, each by a different method, and officials in the know—including Republicans!—vouching for the integrity of the vote and the system.
But that’s not what they’re doing at all. Their objective is to land another big red herring: charges of a flawed 2026 election, thus creating enough chaos to cling to power against results unfavorable to the Party of Complicity—and thus, to Trump and his gangsters.
All of which is part of a grand ruse to divert and deflect from the one thing that could still bring the whole circus down: the Epstein Files.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
[1] In Minnesota, groups of volunteers have formed to receive released detainees and provide assistance.
