'He was a total failure': Conservative expert blasts Trump's record on key issue

Donald Trump's record on immigration is that of "failure," according to Cato Institute immigration expert David Bier.

Bier, who has previously commented on Trump's family separation policy during the first Trump administration, took to social media on Saturday to make a prediction about Trump's deportation scheme roll-out.

"Trump will lie about who he is deporting," Bier wrote. "Week 1, we expect a big televised series of arrests. We know that ICE was *already* planning to arrest the criminal targets of this raid. But Trump will also tell ICE to go ahead and arrest noncriminals in the area as well."

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Bier goes on to say that, "Trump will sign an order Day 1 allowing ICE to arrest anyone without legal status."

"He will then slander everyone arrested as a criminal or gang member when, in reality, he will have deprioritize criminals and diverted resources away from serious threats," he added. "When sympathetic cases come to light, Trump's admin will lie about those people as well. Perla Morales-Luna lived without a criminal record for decades. Trump admin grabbed her in front of her 3 US citizen kids. In response to the outrage, Trump's team claimed this single mother of three was a 'human smuggling facilitator.' This was a totally unsubstantiated LIE. They quietly released her days later without any charges."

The libertarian included some additional citations, as well.

"Rosenda Perez-Pelcastre and Francisco Duarte-Tineo were two parents who experienced the same thing. When their arrests came to light, Trump's admin said they were running a 'stash house' with their 4 young kids. It was another LIE. They were released. No charges again," he wrote. "Daniel Ramirez, a DACA recipient, never had any criminal charges against him. And Trump couldn't even make up a crime for him, but they labeled him a 'gang member' without evidence. Once gain... They terminated his DACA status, but once again... they quietly released him."

Bier elaborates on another way in which Trump's administration failed on this issue.

"In 2017, as ICE began arresting noncriminals across the country, DC bureaucrats ordered field offices to come up with 'egregious cases' to justify the arrests. But Trump ICE officials failed in this task too!" he wrote. "Trump's actual security record consists of releasing criminals with serious offenses into the US and gutting enforcement against criminals. He reversed a decade of progress on deterring criminal illegal entries. He was a total failure."

He then concluded, "Trump will no doubt arrest criminals, but they are already targets under this admin. He will use those arrests to divert attention away from and smear peaceful people caught up in his mass deportation fantasy."