--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But the question is - are we deporting a…" description: "\"But the question is - are we deporting a couple hundred people for show or are we actually making a serious effort to remove everybody who's got a fina..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df3/mark-krikorian-34364_couple_but-the-question-is-are-we-deporting-a-c_2464232.jpg" --- # But the question is - are we deporting a couple hundred… ![“But the question is - are we deporting a couple hundred people for show or are we actually making a serious effort to remove everybody who's got a final order of removal? When I say enforcement theater, what I mean is a kind of pretend enforcement.” quote by Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df3/mark-krikorian-34364_couple_but-the-question-is-are-we-deporting-a-c_2464232.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df3/mark-krikorian-34364_couple_but-the-question-is-are-we-deporting-a-c_2464232.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df3/mark-krikorian-34364_couple_but-the-question-is-are-we-deporting-a-c_2464232.jpg) > “But the question is - are we deporting a couple hundred people for show or are we actually making a serious effort to remove everybody who's got a final order of removal? When I say enforcement theater, what I mean is a kind of pretend enforcement.” [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques superficial enforcement actions that appear serious but lack genuine intent, labeling them as "theater." **In simple terms:** It calls out fake enforcement that looks busy but does little. Key Takeaway Demand authentic, effective enforcement. Themes immigration policy authenticity politics enforcement Mood critical skeptical concerned Type political analytical critical When to use this quote - government statements - media interviews - policy debates Key Concepts symbolic actions public perception policy implementation political rhetoric Questions to Reflect On - How can we differentiate genuine enforcement from performative acts? - What mechanisms ensure accountability in immigration policy? A Different Perspective Real change requires resources and political will, not just appearances. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Couple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/couple/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Immigration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immigration/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater/) ## Related quotes > [Well, enforcement theater is OK if it's reality theater. In other words, obviously, you want to make it clear, you want to make people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/well-enforcement-theater-is-ok-if-it-s-reality-theater-in-other-words/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Let's be honest - tracking down, rounding up, and deporting millions of people isn't realistic. Anyone who suggests otherwise isn't being straight with you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/let-s-be-honest-tracking-down-rounding-up-and-deporting-millions-of/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [“Deporting people from the only country they've ever known is \*slightly\* worse than sexual masochism, imo.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-kirk/deporting-people-from-the-only-country-they-ve-ever-known-is-slightly/) [T.J. Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-kirk/) > [All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/all-americans-not-only-in-the-states-most-heavily-affected-but-in/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [“We all fashion ourselves to the false world in which we live and in so doing become false ourselves. I saw this all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-haybittle/we-all-fashion-ourselves-to-the-false-world-in-which-we-live-and-in/) [Glenn Haybittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-haybittle/) > [I talked about deporting people that are here illegally. They're here illegally. We either have a country or we don't. I talked about deporting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-talked-about-deporting-people-that-are-here-illegally-they-re-here/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Turning away women and children in grave danger; warehousing children in cages; deporting people whom we promised to protect - these actions are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharice-davids/turning-away-women-and-children-in-grave-danger-warehousing-children/) [Sharice Davids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharice-davids/) > [Deporting asylum seekers back to violence does not reflect the values of our country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-guerrero/deporting-asylum-seekers-back-to-violence-does-not-reflect-the-values/) [Diane Guerrero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-guerrero/) > [I have to say that deporting people and calling them 'bad hombres,' then kicking families out with visa violations, upsets me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maz-jobrani/i-have-to-say-that-deporting-people-and-calling-them-bad-hombres-then/) [Maz Jobrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maz-jobrani/) > [“On the very day that Columbus finally set forth on his journey that would shake the world, the port of the city he sailed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-stannard/on-the-very-day-that-columbus-finally-set-forth-on-his-journey-that/) [David E. 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So, this could impact your fantasy football team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/analysts-say-obama-s-new-immigration-plan-will-focus-on-deporting/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) > [No other country ties its hands in deporting foreign criminals as Britain does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominic-raab/no-other-country-ties-its-hands-in-deporting-foreign-criminals-as/) [Dominic Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominic-raab/) > [The Biden administration is not just letting a record number of illegal immigrants cross our border, they are bringing them here. They are prohibiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-cain/the-biden-administration-is-not-just-letting-a-record-number-of/) [Will Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-cain/) > [There's more than 1700 emails out of the thirty three thousand Hillary Clinton emails that we've published, just about Libya. It's not that Libya…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/there-s-more-than-1700-emails-out-of-the-thirty-three-thousand/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) ## More by Mark Krikorian > [But it's more an up-versus-down issue because the research has shown that opinion leaders, whether they're elected officials, journalists, business leaders - it's academics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/but-it-s-more-an-up-versus-down-issue-because-the-research-has-shown/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Of 472 civilian occupations defined by the Department of Commerce, only six are majority immigrant (legal and illegal). These six occupations account for 1…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/of-472-civilian-occupations-defined-by-the-department-of-commerce/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Well, because we're talking here about people who've been ordered deported and the administration has done nothing about actually making sure that they go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/well-because-we-re-talking-here-about-people-who-ve-been-ordered/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [The effects of illegal immigration aren't that different from those of legal immigration —an illiterate Central American farmer with a green card is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/the-effects-of-illegal-immigration-aren-t-that-different-from-those/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [By holding down natural wage growth in labor-intensive industries, immigration serves as a subsidy for low-wage, low-productivity ways of doing business, retarding technological progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/by-holding-down-natural-wage-growth-in-labor-intensive-industries/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [In enforcement, you always have to have both a focus on the really worst actors - you know, gang bangers, in this case, drug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/in-enforcement-you-always-have-to-have-both-a-focus-on-the-really/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [There's definitely a huge gap between the elite and public perceptions on immigration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/there-s-definitely-a-huge-gap-between-the-elite-and-public/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Well, enforcement theater is OK if it's reality theater. In other words, obviously, you want to make it clear, you want to make people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/well-enforcement-theater-is-ok-if-it-s-reality-theater-in-other-words/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [But the other audience, I think, is people in Central America because since last summer, they've been running ads down there - the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/but-the-other-audience-i-think-is-people-in-central-america-because/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Well, nobody's being deported - nobody - practically. And so what the people down there getting is the American government is telling us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-krikorian/well-nobody-s-being-deported-nobody-practically-and-so-what-the/) [Mark Krikorian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-krikorian/) > [Assimilation is really a psychological process where you come to identify with a new country as yours. 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