Adrian Carrasquillo
Appearances
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I think that we wrote even before Trump became president that there were multiple parts here. There is a PR campaign. There is a like we're pitting a new coat of paint on the deportations that were happening before. You know, ICE released a report in the end of December at Joe Biden's last ICE report, basically. They got 81,000 criminals last year.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So the United States was already getting criminals. You get to put a new coat of paint. You get to have the bully pulpit and you get to say, oh, my God, look, Tom Holman saying we're getting so many criminals. So that's one part. These executive orders that we're going to talk about, they really do look to transform immigration in America to the extent that. that Trump can do it.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Yes, laws need to be passed by Congress. But the first Trump administration already sort of took a hatchet to the trunk of like legal immigration, asylum and things like that. So now they are just continuing. And now they understand the levers of government better. So this really is an assault on the immigration system.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
They are breaking down a lot of pieces of it, which we'll get into at the border. And so no, it really is a new day. And they have put in a lot of things that are going to cause strife Not just for people who've come here, but there's directives that they can now go into schools and hospitals and churches.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So this is going to be very challenging, and it's going to be very difficult for a lot of people.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Yeah, so he declared a national emergency at the border, which unlocks for him the ability to bring troops. He says the Secretary of Defense is going to send troops. So already it's 1,500 troops that are headed to the border with the likelihood that they could go up as high as 10,000 troops, you know. We could break that down if you wanted to.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
The fact that three days ago, the New York Times had a story about how basically the border was quiet at the end of Biden's term. But they've declared an invasion and they say that we're sending troops to the border. So we're sending troops to the border. Part of that is the military sealing the border and putting more barriers around the border. So that's the first couple.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
You're right. You're right. And you bring up a great point, which is that, you know, in the past they were using pretenses. There's this disease so no one can come. It's just explicit now. He's calling it an invasion.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
This is the same language that Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton used in Texas, which a lot of people felt inspired the shooter in El Paso at the Walmart who said, you know, there's an invasion. So I'm driving 10 hours to kill Mexicans and Latinos. I mean, so it's fully U.S. policy that there's an invasion at the border right now. And that's where the national emergency comes in.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Yeah, look, I mean, I think from from the national emergency, the invasion and what what that could unlock legally to things like which we'll get into using the Alien Enemies Act and to go after cartels and gangs that he has now designated terrorist organizations. These are laws that have been on the books.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
The Alien Enemies Act has been on the books since 1798, which says that another country is doing an armed invasion of our country. And so, yeah, there's concerns that U.S. citizens could get caught up if you're Venezuelan. And, you know, the gang that they're going after is Venezuela. And so, yeah, there are so many of those concerns.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I think the groups when I first talked to them were sort of shell shocked. They knew this was coming. But you're like sifting through even the legal groups and then are trying to figure out which they're going to they're going to go after first.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Yeah. One of them is just the military, like sealing the borders and putting up barriers and things like that. Designating criminal cartels as global terrorists. That's part of it. They're also suspending refugee resettlement for four months until such time as further injury. of refugees aligned with the interests of the United States.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So that doesn't look like that's going to come back anytime soon. I know they were canceling flights of people from Afghanistan, 1,660 people from Afghanistan. Their flights were cleared. They were on the way. As people say, no one gets more vetting than refugees, right? You know, it can take sometimes take years and he's just sort of unilaterally canceling these flights.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Those are a couple of the other ones.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I think that's the sense. They said that they want to revisit that in 90 days and see if it's in the best interest of the U.S. And that just seems like they're clearly going to say that it's not in the best interest of the U.S.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Some of the people who were here legally, they are causing sort of headaches for them. One of the things that I found really interesting was on, I don't know if you know about the CBP One app. It was this app that people always talk about law and order and coming into the border orderly in an orderly fashion.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
And that's something that the Biden administration created where they said, we're going to have this app. You sign up. If you come in without using this app, you're done. You're gone. But if you use this app, you can sign up for an appointment. And this great Washington Post reporter, Adelise Hernandez, said, She had video of migrants crying because their appointments were being canceled.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
And so this is a piece where people say, wait, you're the law and order president. People say, get in line and do it the right way. And this was people getting in line and doing it the right way. This is where I say it's sort of an assault from all these different parts because there's so many pieces here when it comes to the orders.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So fascinating, because I think that there was something about doing it at the beginning of the year where it did seem a little bit like this sort of the groups in the advocacy world were caught a little flat footed. There's been a lot of reporting. People felt that, you know, maybe some of the Democrats hadn't read the bill.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I mean, you know, to your point, state attorney general can sue if they feel the federal government's not doing something, biting correctly on immigration. Federal government is the one that runs immigration. So now you're empowering the Ken Paxons of the world to find issue with anything and to launch all these lawsuits. On top of that, I think that there is so much in the political space.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
You mentioned the word criminal and people say, oh, no, absolutely. Criminals should be out, you know, Americans and politicians. But this is as simple as somebody shoplifting now can be detained, can have their due process rights taken away. ICE has already said this is going to cost billions and they're focused on criminals.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
And now they're going to get shoplifters or they're going to get people with nonviolent, smaller crimes. So. You know, it's not surprising that the Republicans push this. It is more surprising that a lot of Democrats went along with it and that there's parts in there that really seem to be sort of undercover and emerged after advocacy and everyone stepped up and said, wait, what are you doing?
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
How are you voting for this?
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I think before Trump became president, we saw it from readers. We saw it from people who were Trump supporters that said, it's not going to be this bad. Stop fear mongering. Like, this is not what's going to happen. We don't believe that he's going to do all this stuff. Well, a lot of these things are happening, right?
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
And, you know, in December, for example, a Missouri legislator said, let's do $1,000 bounties on undocumented immigrants. You turn in Immigrants, you get a thousand bucks each, you know, and so people hear that and they're like, oh, come on, that's that's not going to pass is crazy. You know, to your point, like Democrats have really lost the enforcement battle.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
Like that's a little preview of my next newsletter. So, you know, a Democrat was telling me. You know, you want alligators with lasers on their heads like like at this point, Democrats are sort of giving up on the enforcement piece, which, again, only has Republicans saying licking their lips, saying how much further can we go in these states?
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
And so, yeah, it's going to be I don't think people are prepared for what exactly is going to happen here.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
A source yesterday was telling me that, you know, the law and order piece is an area where they can say like, wait, Trump said he was going to come in and bring law and order. He's canceling things like the CBP one app that actually brings some order to this process.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
you know, what's going on with birthright citizenship is very much an area that is fertile ground for Democrats where you can say, this is not right. This is in the US Constitution. The executive can't edit the Constitution like it's a Wikipedia page. This is not happening. So those are some areas where they can fight back.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
I was thinking of this frame of sort of like where enforcement, they're giving up so much on enforcement. It's like, yeah, you can have a border wall, but leave immigrants in the interior of the fuck alone. You know, and I think that there's going to be fights on You're trying to tear apart families. You're trying to go after small businesses.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
ICE used to – there used to be migrants, immigrants who would be able to claim, let's say, sanctuary in a church, right? And why are they able to do that? ICE is not going to a church to drag you out. Well, now there was a directive literally under the cover of night the other day.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
The DHS is now, there's a memo where basically you can go into churches, you can go into hospitals, you can go into schools, and they told ICE to use common sense. So, you know, I had a great legal source telling me that ICE offices are like police precincts. They're very individual. They very kind of do their own thing. And so they very famously don't listen to memos and directives, by the way.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So this is one where now they can just do what they want. And if somebody maybe heads into a church, maybe they can go in and drag them out. Right. There's a lot of fear around schools and things like that. So I think that's the slippery slope for Republicans in the Trump administration. Are you doing things like this, which I think will play into the Democrats hands? You're right.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
They can't oppose Trump on everything. But this is an area that I think it could be problematic for Republicans.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
It's a great question because I did see that reporting yesterday as well, that they're considering some like huge deal on all these fronts. I did talk to a senior Democrat yesterday, though, who said, We're not going to be bailing them out anymore. If Republicans can't govern, Democrats shouldn't come in to help them out with all the problems that they're having with their own side.
The Bulwark Podcast
Sam Stein and Adrian Carrasquillo: We Are in a Simulation
So I do think that that's one piece that's interesting and something to watch. I don't know for sure. I know people are talking about this big deal, but there's definitely Democrats who don't want to do that.