Editorial

The Border Is Shut, but the Front Door’s Still Broken: Why America Keeps Screwing Up Immigration

A federal court order meant nothing when Trump’s second-term DHS deported a protected immigrant into a hellhole mega-prison—proving that in today’s immigration system, legality is optional and accountability is nonexistent.

When your immigration system is a bandaged elephant in the shadows, don't act shocked when it tramples your own policies. Original artwork for SOFREP by Bob Lang.

You’re not going to get too much sympathy from me or many others deporting gang members to El Salvador.

Advertisement

We can also acknowledge when a mistake was made.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was living in Maryland, legally. He was working, raising his daughter, and—get this—he had a federal court order protecting him from deportation because going back to El Salvador was basically a death sentence. But in March 2025, under Trump’s second administration, immigration officials made what they’re calling an “administrative error” and deported him anyway.

Now? He’s locked in CECOT, El Salvador’s brutal mega-prison, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with allegedly a lot of bad dudes. A man who should’ve been protected by law is now in the belly of the beast, stripped of his freedom—because America’s immigration system is so broken it can’t even follow its own damn orders.

Let’s Be Honest—This Isn’t Just a Mistake. It’s a Policy Failure

The Trump team’s stance? “We’re not obligated to bring him back.” Translation: We screwed up, but we’re not gonna fix it unless someone forces us.

Advertisement

And now, even after the Supreme Court ordered Trump’s DHS to “facilitate” Abrego’s return, the administration’s legal interpretation is so narrow it’s laughable. They’ll let him in if he finds his own way back—but they’re not lifting a finger to extract him from the Salvadoran gulag.

Not sure how I feel about this one.

Advertisement

A System That Screws the Right People and Rewards the Wrong Ones

What’s most galling about this? While a legal immigrant is rotting in a cage due to a government screw-up, thousands of illegal crossings continue at the southern border—many by people with no vetting, no ID, no background checks.

You think the Hamas Gaza tunnels are crazy? The cartel tunnels under the U.S.-Mexico border make those look like a Minecraft starter pack built by Nancy Pelosi. These narco-engineered wormholes come with ventilation, lighting, rails—and probably better Wi-Fi than half of rural America.

How did we get here?

Advertisement

Let’s lay it out:

  • Trump’s Reforms: Trump’s return to office brought back “tough on crime” immigration enforcement, but it’s more theater than policy. The focus is on deportation speed, not accuracy. You can’t run a sniper rifle with a shotgun mindset.

  • Biden’s Policies (2020–2024): Biden tried to humanize immigration, but in doing so, overcorrected, ending Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, cutting ICE funding, and relying on overwhelmed asylum systems that created a massive backlog and a border perception of chaos.

  • Trump 2.0 (2025): His team brought back the Alien Enemies Act, removed judicial oversight in some cases, and gave ICE broader powers to act without judicial review—exactly how Kilmar was deported in direct violation of a standing federal order.

So, What Now? How Do We Fix This Dumpster Fire?

Trump’s push to secure the border wasn’t just political theater—it was a necessary gut check for a system bleeding from every seam. A sovereign nation without border control is like a bank with no vault—anyone can stroll in and take whatever they want. But sealing the border is only half the equation. We’ve got to realign our incentives to actually attract the kind of immigrants America needs: the ones who can weld a pipeline, keep the lights on, or build the next Apple in a garage.

We don’t need more unvetted chaos—we need carpenters and coders, not cousins of cousins who got lucky in the diversity lottery. Build the wall, sure—but while you’re at it, install a damn express lane for skilled minds and hands.

1. Create a “Fast Track” for Skilled Trade Workers

Want to rebuild America’s infrastructure? Staff the trades with willing, skilled labor. Welders, plumbers, electricians, truck drivers—greenlight their visas. Set up a skills-based point system, like Canada or Australia. No lottery. No guesswork. Just skills and supply-demand logic.

2. Install an Immigration Accountability Office

We need an independent watchdog agency to catch screw-ups like Kilmar’s before they become international embarrassments. Every case flagged for deportation gets a final pre-check for legal status, court orders, and asylum rulings. A human system needs a human override.

3. Ditch the Diversity Visa Lottery

The current system is an international scratch-off ticket. It selects 55,000 random people a year, regardless of skills or compatibility with U.S. workforce needs. Replace it with a merit-based pool that rewards STEM, trades, and national interest areas—not luck.

Conclusion: The System’s Not Broken—It’s Designed This Way

Here’s the hard truth wrapped in barbed wire: America doesn’t have an immigration problem—it has an immigration strategy void.

We’ve spent decades swinging between open-border idealism and hardline crackdowns, with zero long-term vision. What we need now is a system engineered with military precision and business sense: lock the front door, yes—but put a VIP entrance next to it for people who can build, fix, invent, and lead. Fast-track skilled trades. Recruit global talent in AI, biotech, and infrastructure like it’s a draft.

Scrap the lottery and stop importing chaos. If we don’t redesign immigration to serve America’s future, we’re not just failing people like Kilmar—we’re gutting our own potential. You want a stronger country? Start by fixing the way we choose who gets to be a part of it.

Advertisement

What readers are saying

Generating a quick summary of the conversation...

This summary is AI-generated. AI can make mistakes and this summary is not a replacement for reading the comments.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR