Everyone in America has an opinion on what has gone right or wrong at the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. To answer the Talking Heads lyric “Well, how did I get here?” would yield a thousand different answers. I have a pretty good sense of what happened. Even before President Trump returned to the White House, I argued that meeting his bold deportation goals would require very different enforcement tactics than the ones the administration chose.

That debate makes for great fodder for finger-pointing. But a better question is: Where do we go next?

The administration needs to move its attention from sanctuary cities to sanctuary farms, factories, and industrial hubs.

To answer it, some of the nation’s leading immigration policy and legal experts, former senior and rank-and-file law enforcement officials, and advocates are coming together to devise a way forward. Details will be announced in the days to come, but the goal is straightforward: President Trump can and will meet his core campaign promise to “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported about 230,000 illegal aliens from the interior of the United States. That is a far cry from the 1 million figure some administration officials floated as a projection — and far below other totals the administration has suggested at various points. Making analysis harder, the Department of Homeland Security stopped releasing enforcement data for the first time in decades.

President Trump promised to exceed the deportation efforts of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who, by the most conservative estimates, removed about one-third of the illegal population in 1954. Any way you cut the data, even using the lowest-end estimates of the total illegal population in 2025, the administration is not on pace.

One reason: In its first year, the Trump administration prioritized a particular subset of illegal aliens — criminals. People can debate whether that was the right call, but that’s what happened. Prioritizing criminals means concentrating resources on fewer targets, and it has produced high-profile standoffs in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles. I will refer to that 2025 effort as “worst first,” as Border Czar Tom Homan has sometimes called it — phase one.

RELATED: Federalism cannot be a shield for sanctuary defiance

Photo by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

We can credit the Trump administration for highlighting the issue of criminal illegal aliens, removing many, and forcing the hand of radical Democrats, some of whom have taken the absurd position of rioting in defense of rapists and murderers. They are who we thought they were.

Now phase two can begin: widening the aperture of immigration enforcement and placing quantity above the perceived “quality” of deportations. The goal was mass deportations, not the “best” deportations. In short, the public wants commas in the numbers.

The Trump administration can, at minimum, quadruple last year’s totals. It can do it quickly if it shifts priorities — especially by refocusing on worksite enforcement. The administration needs to move its attention from sanctuary cities to sanctuary farms, factories, and industrial hubs.

Deportation is a contact sport — not only between ICE and illegal aliens, but between the Trump administration and special interests that value cheap labor, politicians who need cheap talking points, and activist judges and violent mobs. Those forces can be overcome, and in the coming weeks and months, we will show how.

The goal is to help President Trump deliver on what he promised — and to surpass President Eisenhower’s historic efforts. To do that, President Trump needs support from the base and the right, not a constant drumbeat of consultants, pollsters, and “moderate” Republicans trying to undermine him. Those forces are coming together, and I believe the result will be less drama and more commas.

Americans deserve a road map to move from phase one into a more successful phase two.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice raids, Tom homan, Minneapolis, Los angeles, Resistance, Sovereignty, Immigration, Citizenship, Illegal aliens, Customs and border protection, Donald trump, Mass deportations, Criminal illegal aliens, Law and order, Maga, America first, National security, Borders 

Las Vegas Police said they got a tip saying a man was allowing men to sexually assault and rape his daughters in exchange for money and drugs.

Their investigation led to the arrest of 43-year-old John David Lee Jr. after speaking to his two daughters, who allegedly reported that the horrific sexual assault occurred from 2012 until 2019.

Lee allegedly traded the assault for money to pay his debts as well as for heroin.

One of the girls was assaulted from the time she was 4 years old and the other from the time she was 7 years old, according to court documents.

The girls said the assaults would occur in the parking lot of a Walmart as well as their home. They said they were promised a toy from Walmart if they complied with assault.

One of the girls said Lee smacked her when she refused to comply. In another incident, Lee allegedly sent three men into one of the girl’s rooms to rape her after she disobeyed him.

Lee allegedly traded the assault for money to pay his debts as well as for heroin.

He was booked on two counts of sex trafficking.

The New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department said it had no record of any investigation into the man or his children.

Prosecutors argued that Lee was a threat to the public and should be locked up until his trial.

Judge Christian Montaño ordered him to be held on a $250,000 cash-only bond, and he remains in custody at the San Miguel County Detention center.

RELATED: 12-year-old girl sexually assaulted in her bedroom by man who snuck into home through balcony, left 5 hours later, police say

“I’m really wondering, what does it take to keep our children safe, and how as New Mexicans do we break this cycle,” said New Mexico Child First Network founder and executive director Maralyn Beck.

“It’s just so omnipresent how hurt our kids are right now, from child fatalities to, we’ve had just crisis after crisis after headline after crisis,” she added.

“We are the most dangerous place in the entire United States for children. We can do better,” she continued.

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​John david lee jr, Las vegas dad sold daughters, Dad sexually trafficked daughters, Walmart sex abuse, Crime 

When Robert Dorgan’s ex-wife and son were watching a hockey game between Coventry and Blackstone Valley schools in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the trans-identifying ex-husband and father allegedly opened fire on them — killing them both before fatally shooting himself.

While disturbed by his suspected actions and devastated for the family, BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is not surprised by the alleged attacker’s identity.

“Once again, in a case of strange deja vu, we have a story about another deranged trans person who [allegedly] carried out another shooting. Two people were killed, three others injured, during a youth hockey game in Rhode Island,” Gonzales reports on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

The alleged shooter was going by the name Roberta Esposito.

“Apparently you can change nationalities too. You can just flip from white to Latino, I guess. So, he looks about how you would expect. Very beautiful, gorgeous, feminine dude. … Now, you’re going to be shocked to hear this: history of family disputes,” Gonzales says.

“Now that family have two family members who will never come back because we’ve decided as a society to pretend like we shouldn’t treat clear mental illness and delusion — like, we should just enable it,” she continues, pointing out that other mental health conditions don’t receive the same treatment.

“If you have an alcoholic, people are like, ‘You should stop drinking.’ If you have a schizophrenic, they’re like, ‘We need to get you help because what you’re doing is not normal.’ You have a dude who wants to cut his d**k off, and you’re like, ‘Very brave,’” she says.

“When are we going to decide that enough is enough?” she asks.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Sharing, Video, Camera phone, Video phone, Upload, Free, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Transgender, Trans-identifying, Transgender gunman, Transgender violence, Trans agenda, Mental illness