By Tommy Acosta
Sedona, AZ — A cottage industry on steroids has erupted across the United States, fueled by the political firestorm around immigration and the logistical nightmare of enforcing it. President Donald Trump returned to power with the singular focus of cracking down on illegal immigration. The country is watching an old issue swell into an industrial-scale operation—an expensive, chaotic, and morally fraught machine that’s straining every gear in the federal system.
Trump’s immigration plan is not just about putting up walls or tightening the southern border. It’s about arresting, detaining, and deporting millions. And here’s the thing: it’s not just the government doing the heavy lifting. A growing number of private sector contractors are cashing in, turning this immigration crackdown into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
It’s not enough to just find undocumented migrants. Trump’s plan requires armies of enforcement agents to sweep through neighborhoods, job sites, and transportation hubs. That means ramping up manpower. ICE, Border Patrol, and other law enforcement agencies are hiring. The boots on the ground need housing, gear, vehicles, and overtime. More contracts. More spending. More profit.
And once the arrests are made, the real bottleneck begins. There simply aren’t enough detention centers or holding facilities to manage the numbers being pushed through. Jail cells meant for a few dozen people are crammed with more than twice the capacity. Temporary structures, tent cities, and hastily converted warehouses are going up like wildfire. Portable fencing, floodlights, surveillance equipment—companies are racing to supply it all.
People forget: every detained migrant has to be fed, clothed, and kept alive. That means contracts for food suppliers, bedding manufacturers, security firms, medical service providers. In some cases, private prison companies are being paid per head, per day. The longer a migrant is held, the more money flows to these companies. Incentive? You bet. It’s the dark side of capitalism—profits tied to prolonged human suffering.
Transportation is another gold rush. Deporting someone isn’t as simple as buying a plane ticket. It involves paperwork, coordination with foreign governments, medical checks, escorts, and logistics. Charter flights, secure buses, vans outfitted with restraints—someone is making money off every wheel that turns.
This isn’t just an enforcement campaign. It’s an industry now. A sprawling, unregulated network of private contractors and government partners all feeding off the same pot of taxpayer money. And as the system backs up, as migrants pile up in makeshift cells and court cases take months or years to resolve, the cash keeps flowing.
There’s no doubt immigration enforcement is a complex challenge. But this scale of crackdown, without the infrastructure to humanely manage it, leads to chaos and cruelty. Children sleeping on concrete floors. Families separated. Asylum seekers treated like criminals. The system is bursting, and instead of investing in streamlined legal pathways, smarter border technologies, or more efficient case processing, we’re outsourcing the problem to companies that profit the longer the crisis lasts.
And it’s not slowing down. Every step in the process—from arrest to deportation—creates opportunities for someone to step in and say, “We’ll handle it… for a price.” And that price is getting higher by the day. Millions are being poured into temporary detention facilities, security upgrades, surveillance systems, riot gear, private jets. It’s becoming a self-sustaining ecosystem, where the crisis is no longer something to solve, but something to manage and monetize.
You can’t call this a “cottage” industry anymore. It’s a booming economy built on the backs of desperate people—some fleeing violence, others seeking work, many with children in tow. They’re met not with compassion or due process, but with a system incentivized to detain them as long as possible and move them out as budget efficiency allows.
We’ve seen this play out before in history: when suffering becomes profitable, justice gets lost in the margins. Trump may be trying to deliver on a promise, but the machinery he’s building is becoming something else entirely. It’s big business now. And like all big businesses, it grows not from solutions—but from sustained demand.
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25 Comments
Young UTSA grad’s first big job? He’s head of federal counterterrorism office.
https://apple.news/ArvQFmSSNRpuY0AniwbKCeA
Guess the old military saying, “f-up move up” is applicable to MAGA but as “suck up move up!”
Can’t wait for the next 9/11 or OKC bombing occurs to see what boy wonder here comes up with from his rectum!
It’s all about Grifting Taxpayers, Fleecing Taxpayers while Trump’s pals (until they aren’t) laugh all the way to the bank. The company awarded contracts at Ft Bliss TX (to house the supposed worse violent criminals to ever walk the earth- MS 13) was a company with “big event experience” but zero experience in running Federal Detention and Detainment Facilities. What could go wrong? Just about anything one can imagine is what. Which is likely why all the usual facilities such as Ft Chaffee AR and Guantanamo Bay were poo poo’d shortly after they were put to use, realizing the reasons they failed as Major detainment facilities in the recent past-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chaffee_crisis
And Guantanamo Bay proved to be unsustainable (both during the Cuban Mariel Crisis and as a torture facility following 9/11) as it lacks its own potable water supply and all resources such as food, medicine and personnel have to be shipped in regularly. Doable but senselessly expensive when we can achieve the same thing here on US soil for 1/10000000 of what Guantanamo costs to operate which is upwards of $540 million per annum-
The estimated annual cost to operate Guantanamo Bay is over $540 million. This figure includes the prison and court system, but not classified expenses like the CIA presence. Even with fewer than 40 prisoners, each costs an estimated $13 million to detain, according to The New York Times. The true cost is likely higher due to classified expenses and other costs associated with the facility
https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/cost-of-guantanamo-brief.pdf
Perhaps whenever Alcatraz has been remodeled for King Felony we can pretend it is Guantanamo Bay. Maybe even dedicate it to his favorite former resident by naming it Scar Face Bay?
Today is the Anniversary of D Day! It marked the beginning of the end of the Second Reich and the Fascist Evil it plagued the world with! Wonder who will stand against the current wave of Fascist Authoritarian plaguing our world and country today? As German Chancellor Friedrich Merz put it yesterday “Germans were liberated from the Nazi’s as well as everyone else.” Which is in part true but when the “liberators” become the “Nazi’s” who will step up as liberators? Hungary under Orban is no different than Hungary was under Soviet Occupation except all the crime and grift is being done by Criminal Hungarians loyal to Orban rather than Soviet Troops, KGB and Stasi Agents. And yet nobody seems very concerned about what’s happening in Hungary these days other than MAGA Event organizers who host MAGA Hate Festivals for Orban and Trump sycophants. Putin is certainly happy Orban is where he is and what he’s doing. Just as he is with Trump’s purposeful inaction on Ukraine.
Too bad we forget what we were fighting against and for on those beach heads and inland paratrooper and glider LZ’s on that fateful day forever to be known as D Day as we crap it all away for an Administration of convicted felons/pardoned felons/election deniers and Insurrectionist because they are doing the hate filled things nobody will admit they voted for them to do, no matter the cost to our Democracy or standing amongst our Allies rather than our enemies over our allies!
When you ignore the sovereignty of a country, let millions in who are undocumented, especially with no skills who don’t speak our language…you bet it’s going to be expensive to fix. It’s been going on for years, politicians ignoring our laws. Especially the last four years.
Why aren’t people like Myorkis in prison.
The cottage industries you described today are miniscule compared to the current taxpayer cost of feeding, medicating, and trying to educate people who can’t speak English.
And the strain on our welfare systems, taking services away from US citizens, while racking up 2 trillion a year in debt is unsustainable.
Medical is BROKE, and Newsom is begging for more fed money. Why are 49 other states paying for his lunacy. Mr. “open state” is the model for failure.
One way or another we’re going to have to clean this country out. Streamline our citizenship program, the right way. You want to become a citizen. There is a path. You want to work here? Get a no citizenship work program together.
It is time the the US being a patsy for world to come to an end.
That’s what the citizens voted for. And maybe that is why the Democratic Party has an approval rating under 20%.
We’re not buying what they’re hawking.
So now Sovereignty is important to MAGA sycophants who threw Ukraine to Russia’s dog Putin! Too funny! You’re an illegal citizen whose relatives came here not speaking the language and ignoring Sovereignty. So since when is Sovereignty the issue? It’s not!
This reply by MS, needs to be addressed. His statements are MAGA-aligned comments packed with emotion, but it’s also riddled with distortions, logical fallacies, and misinformation.
The idea that the U.S. has “open borders” is a MAGA talking point, not reality. The United States operates one of the most militarized and heavily patrolled borders in the world. Under both Trump and Biden, enforcement has included record-breaking detentions, deportations, and asylum restrictions. In fact, Biden has deported more migrants and implemented tougher border policies than Trump did in his final year. The claim that “millions” are being allowed in without oversight is not only false but ignores the massive infrastructure already in place to manage immigration.
Statements about immigrants being “without skills” or not speaking English are not only condescending but historically blind. Every wave of immigration to the U.S.—from the Irish to Italians to Vietnamese—has included people who arrived poor, non-English-speaking, and unfamiliar with American norms. And like their predecessors, today’s immigrants take on jobs that are essential but hard to fill: agriculture, construction, elder care, hospitality. These are not positions being fought over by native-born citizens. Language acquisition is a process, not a precondition for being a contributing member of society.
Yes, immigrants use public services—but they also pay taxes. Undocumented immigrants contribute billions of dollars annually in state, local, and federal taxes. They fund Social Security, which they cannot collect. They pay sales taxes, property taxes (indirectly through rent), and income taxes if working under false or borrowed Social Security numbers. Over time, immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take, and their U.S.-born children often go on to become highly productive citizens. It is misleading to paint immigrants as purely a fiscal burden.
Calling the immigration enforcement system a “miniscule” expense compared to other costs shows ignorance or intentional denial. The private detention and deportation industry is a billion-dollar enterprise, with massive taxpayer-funded contracts to companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group. These firms profit from immigrant suffering, lobbying Congress to keep beds full. This is not a minor aspect of federal spending—it is a structurally embedded part of the immigration system that benefits from punitive policies. Dismissing it as irrelevant is a deliberate evasion of fact.
Calls for people like Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to be imprisoned are legally groundless and politically hysterical. No evidence of criminal wrongdoing has been produced—hence, failed impeachment attempts. As for the Democratic Party’s popularity, the claim that its approval rating is “under 20%” is flat-out false. As of 2025, national polling places Democratic approval in the low-to-mid 40s, roughly equivalent to the GOP. Misrepresenting polls doesn’t strengthen your argument—it signals desperation.
Saying “one way or another we’re going to have to clean this country out” is deeply disturbing. That kind of language echoes some of the darkest chapters in global history. It moves beyond policy debate and into the territory of ethnic cleansing rhetoric. This is not a patriotic call for reform—it’s authoritarianism masquerading as law and order. You cannot “clean out” a democracy built on diversity without doing unspeakable harm to its principles and people.
Yes, there is a path to citizenship—but it is almost impossible for the vast majority of low-income immigrants to access. Wait times for green cards can span decades, and many categories are backlogged for generations. The U.S. once had functional guest-worker programs, like Bracero, but they were dismantled due to pressure from the same factions now complaining about undocumented labor. If you want reform, support humane, functional systems—not scapegoating.
Blaming California for national budget woes is ironic considering the economic facts. California is the fifth-largest economy in the world and consistently sends more in federal tax dollars than it receives. In contrast, many of the states that decry liberal policies are net takers of federal aid. Governor Newsom may be politically polarizing, but the idea that the rest of the country is footing California’s bill is a fantasy. If anything, it’s California subsidizing red states.
The belief that America is a “patsy” because it offers refuge to those fleeing violence, poverty, or persecution is a betrayal of everything this country claims to stand for. Global leadership comes not from fear and exclusion, but from strength, compassion, and opportunity. MAGA rhetoric frames the United States as a victim, when in reality it remains one of the most powerful and wealthy nations on Earth. Using immigration as a scapegoat to justify tribalism, cruelty, and isolationism is not patriotism—it’s a rejection of American ideals.
Oh no! You are back. I thought you quit because no one liked your articles and you are a pathetic libtard. Do us all a favor and crawl back into the hole you came from. Please mister editor, ban this moron from sedona.biz. Nothing he writes makes any sense. Go away and stay away.
Man the truth really gets under your skin doesn’t it snowflake? People don’t get banned for free speech on here no matter how hateful and ignorant YOU are.
More like Joan of Fart!, smelly and full of shite!
Are you Joan of Arc and don’t know how to spell your own surname or are you Joan of the Ark that never existed except in fantasy?
“Medical is BROKE, and Newsom is begging for more fed money. Why are 49 other states paying for his lunacy. Mr. “open state” is the model for failure”
Medical is incredibly broken right here in AZ especially with the VA healthcare system all of which are highly understaffed and about 20 years behind most other states in the nation when it comes to medical equipment and capabilities.
49 Others states are NOT paying CA’s way on anything. Federal funding goes towards FEDERAL programs and projects like Federal Funding does in every single state in the purposely broken and divided union. Federal projects are primarily infrastructure projects such as roadway and bridge improvements, dam and reservoir upgrades, Wildfire Fighting which CAL FIRE helps provide to AZ every single year and programs for Law Enforcement and Fire to obtain used military equipment (not supposed to be weapons) to aid in their wars on violent crime and fire.
All you do is dog whistle about CA having things it doesn’t. You get your info straight from propaganda networks like Fox News (I know because I watch their nonsense to stay abreast of what the Fascist movement is doing in America). Gotta know your enemy if you hope to defeat them.
What’s truly funny is his bluff about having deployed 700 of the 3rd Marine Battalion RAIDERS to LA to assist with Civil Disturbance Operations. Their Commander came out and acknowledged this morning that his Battalion had not received any activation orders for LA. Without declaring the Insurrection Act he cannot deploy them as Riot Control. For some reason he either wants those State National Guard troops who have been Federalized and the ICE, BORTAC and LAPD officers on the ground to be forced into a situation requiring a larger force or for some odd reason he fears using the Insurrection ACT? Or perhaps he just sickly enjoys watching Americans fighting amongst themselves like on January 6, 2021 so he can act like the tough guy who did the fighting as he hides behind his position as POTUS.
Saw him at my Alma Mater “Ft Bragg” today acting like he was old Iron Mike himself despite his record of draft evasion for bone spurs. His brain rattling out the same hate filled tunes to a crowd of soldiers who come from every walk of life imaginable (most of who stood respectfully silent as ordered as he said garbage that was directed against many of their very own family members and friends) “Big News today I ordered all the bases named after hate filled Insurrectionist Confederate Criminals that have been re-named using legitimate names of legitimate American heroes back to their hate filled Insurrectionist Confederate names!” And the black and Hispanic soldiers in the crowd cheered for this! NOT! They stood there silently and professionally. Must all be DEI hires or Woke rather than being human and humane?
Today’s display at Bragg like Trump’s $45 billion self adulation parade are nothing more than propaganda stunts to make it appear he’s in charge following his lovers spat with Elonia that threatened to expose Trump for who and what he truly is until Elonia backed down in the face of losing his US citizenship, billions of dollars and US contracts and all his Alt Right “Big Balled “ Buddies at DOGE.
Yep it’s all a show and distraction to divert from what truly is!
I stand corrected by myself. It is not the 3rd but rather the 2nd Marine 7th Battalion which has now in fact deployed. They are being sent in with riot gear-Baton/Shield/Ballistic Helmets w/faceshields “to protect Federal Officers and Facilities” which is a Department of Defense Police function but not a military one. They have not been federalized and have NO arrest authority. So basically they are there to hit “spitters” harder than they’ve ever been hit before. Spitting is not a crime nor is flipping the bird or calling a cop a pig! Any real cop will tell you that there are things they have to endure because they don’t constitute a crime. Spitting on a cop can be a crime misdemeanor or felony depending on the state and jurisdiction laws of that state. Throwing objects at officers is also a crime which constitutes assault. And cops shooting unarmed non provoking journalists who clearly are journalists is also a crime which constitutes assault.
The law is the law!
You know what Jill, you, JB, Bear Howard, Joseph Rittenhouse, and TJ Hall should form a hate group and call yourselves “The Sedona Losers.” Just stop being a bunch of sore losers and come to grips with the fact that Trump is ushering In a brave new world of good, for us and our country. As far as I am concerned, Trump was sent to us by God to save us. Eventually you will see the light and embrace that truth. And thank God for commentors like Susan and Mike Schroeder to add a bit of balance to this rag.
There you go worshipping False Idols again! No matter what you say we are not the hater’s. We are not firing middle and lower income workers out of spite. We are not rounding up and deporting people en mass simply because of the color of their skin. We are not forcing one religion over another and are especially not pushing our religion upon schools. We are not the ones dismantling 230 years of progress in governance. You have much to learn about hatred for someone who claims to be of faith!
“And thank God for commentors like Susan and Mike Schroeder to add a bit of balance to this rag“
I thought this “Rag” was biased and prevented postings from propagandist and outright liars, and yet here you are praising them for being able to post yours and their nonsense.
Tell us all- exactly what Bear or anyone else has posted on here that is an outright lie? Prove they lied by posting their lie backed by an official accredited source for your results. Otherwise all YOU are doing is calling people haters for speaking truth to power and that is gonna backfire on you more than it already has love.
“Medical is BROKE, and Newsom is begging for more fed money. Why are 49 other states paying for his lunacy. Mr. “open state” is the model for failure.
One way or another we’re going to have to clean this country out. Streamline our citizenship program, the right way. You want to become a citizen. There is a path. You want to work here? Get a no citizenship work program together.“
So I guess MAGA’s insistence upon “States Rights” only apply to the Red ones? Can’t get anymore hypocritical than the Trump Administration and MAGA are with CA. You think you can have it both ways but you cannot under existing State & Federal Laws and US Constitution. But since when have laws or the Constitution ever stopped MAGA the so called party of “Law and Order” from doing Criminal things such as Insurrection upon the Nations Capitol, attempting to nullify a free and fair election with illegal Criminal Fake Electors or deporting people without Due Process? And by the way, forced detention is arrest under US Law(s). Non Federalized Active Duty forces cannot detain nor arrest under The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which removed the military from regular civil law enforcement, was enacted in response to the abuses resulting from the extensive use of the army in civil law enforcement during the Civil War and the Reconstruction. The Act allows legislated exceptions.
Abstract
Congress, by legislation, has allowed the use of the military in cases of domestic violence, protection of Federal property, and enforcement of some Federal laws and court orders. The growing drug problem in the United States and the inability of Federal and local law enforcement officials to meet the challenge of massive drug inflow led Congress in 1981 to enact legislation providing for military cooperation with civilian law enforcement officials. Although recognizing the Posse Comitatus restrictions, the law opens the door for extensive use of the military in civilian law enforcement. The military has been slow to respond because it does not wish to become embroiled in civilian law enforcement, and there are questions concerning funding. Further, the military does not want to have its readiness capability impaired by diverting resources toward civilian law enforcement. The Department of Defense has developed directives to provide types of direct and indirect assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies. Currently, the military collects information and uses military equipment in tracking violators of the drug laws. Demands for greater military involvement in the war on drugs are being made. Military cooperation with civil law enforcement agencies can be expected to increase.
Former Arizona lawmaker accused of forging signatures in re-election campaign https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/10/former-arizona-lawmaker-indicted-fraudulent-petition-signatures/
The REAL Criminals here in M’erica are those MAGA Criminals who abuse their political powers from Trump on down! They break every law in the book while accusing others of exactly what they are doing!
Trump vows to ‘HIT’ any protester who spits on police https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/10/trump-vows-hit-any-protester-who-spits-police/
Law and Order POTUS/Party mine arse! More like the party of Hypocrites and Hateful Violence done with glee!
California Sen. Alex Padilla handcuffed at Noem presser
The senator was stopped and shoved back by multiple men.
https://apple.news/ADfdgXm9SQTmAtyrJXIA0yA
More MAGA DICKtatorship- Body slamming and apprehending as US Senator for asking a question viewed by MAGA as “disrespectful”! Being disrespectful is NOT a criminal act. Nor crime! Authoritarian unlawful arrests are! Shame on this Fascist Administration! Shame on all who do and have supported it! History and the World are watching as you burn our Democracy to the ground!
Trump signs measure blocking California’s ban on new sales of gas-powered cars https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/12/trump-is-expected-sign-measure-blocking-californias-nation-leading-vehicle-emissions-rules/
This is what we talk about to divert from things like the full release of the un redacted Epstein report! Jackass doesn’t even drive but he certainly makes money off of oil, gas, coal, precious metals and uranium. Funny thing is Texass, Florida and North Carolina are leading the country in Green Energy production after California. Thought the plan was to abort our self contaminated planet to go live on an uninhabitable one with zero resources needed for sustainable life on it?
We will kill you’: Florida sheriff warns protesters not to attack deputies
https://apple.news/AelhkQXANTrqBPdhbLR7lnA
Nothing like reverting ourselves civically. What’s next Frank Rizzo? Fire hoses? Obviously Sheriff Rosco Purvis Coltrane here never learned the Legal Levels and Uses of Force and is jumping straight into lethal force. Nothing like an abuse of power hiding behind a badge!
https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/escalation-police-use-force#:~:text=The%20five%20categories%20include%20Level,employs%20verbal%20crisis%20intervention%20techniques.
US marines detain civilian in first known instance since Trump deployed troops to LA
Marines appear to restrain a man’s hands with zip ties before handing him over to civilians from DHS
https://apple.news/Arbbr02CzSlipWP_vZKKJlw
The moment a person’s movement is physically restricted they have been arrested. Clear violation of Posse Comitatus. Insurrection Act has not been declared nor has Martial Law.
So it’s inappropriate for a civilian government employee to be a partisan donor to the Democratic Party but if anyone in MAGA does or has done so they get pardons, political appointments and very obviously-Hiring preference. Military is supposed to be non partisan as well but we all saw the directive for attendees at Trump’s Ft Bragg-No Fatties, No Women and only like minded MAGA supporters were permitted to be in attendance. That makes his rally “highly partisan” and therefore should not be permitted according to MAGA logic which is an Alternative Name for their highly biased ignorance. Kings have a long history of staging photo ops for political purposes with the troops. Charles here has a different uniform and skills badge for every occasion. Tomorrow King Trump gets his long awaited show of military fealty to him Royals style! Such a waste of money and brain cells. We have numerous military installations in every state! If you don’t know what they look like by now you’ll never know.
Trump administration halts ICE raids on farms, restaurants and hotels: report https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/14/trump-administration-halts-ice-raids-farms-restaurants-hotels/
Bottom line-
So long as you’re working at one of Trump’s Resorts, you won’t get deported. So long as you are doing the work no American would, you won’t get deported. Everyone else is a target! So much for prioritizing Violent Criminals when the fact is they have gone after anyone and everyone resembling someone from South America.
Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, undeterred by protests https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/16/trump-directs-ice-expand-deportations-democratic-run-cities-undeterred-by-protests/
Again, I thought MAGA’s main deal was “States Rights”? As you can see that is a very biased and hypocritical agenda that only applies to Red states. Nothing like weaponizing the US Government against our own duly elected officials.