Joe Rogan is openly criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategy. He claims that ICE is focused on making quick, easy arrests to meet internal targets.
This approach sometimes results in the deportation of long-term U.S. residents who are not violent criminals. His comments, made during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with civil rights attorney Josh Dubin, show a high-profile ally expressing frustration with how the enforcement is being carried out.
Rogan views the current enforcement efforts as a numbers game. He remarked, “What’s going on with ICE is similar to the quotas for speeding tickets. They have numbers they want to hit.” He noted that officials have “openly talked about this,” including plans to remove “a certain amount of people per week.”
He pointed out that once an agency is pressured to meet weekly goals, the focus shifts from prioritizing the most dangerous individuals to going after whoever is easiest to find. “Then they start showing up at Home Depot instead of looking for gang members and criminals. They go for whatever is easiest so they can boost their numbers,” Rogan explained.
The phrase “easiest pickings” has gained attention and become a political issue because it contradicts the administration’s claim that raids target serious offenders.
BREAKING: Joe Rogan torches Trump’s cruel ICE raids for not targeting violent criminals. “instead of looking for gang bangers and looking for criminals and cartel members, they go to whatever’s easiest pickings.”
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Newsweek reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top Trump adviser Stephen Miller are connected to a daily arrest target of 3,000 for ICE agents. Critics argue that this creates pressure to prioritize quantity over careful targeting.
While the administration maintains it targets the “worst of the worst,” the quota-driven approach has led to concerns about whether they are really targeting criminals and Rogan’s comments fall right into this ongoing debate.
During the podcast, Rogan shared that he was repeating information from Ed Calderon, a former Mexican military officer who now reports on cartel activity in the U.S. “He was telling me some horror stories about ICE raids,” Rogan said.
One particular case he described involved a man who was brought to the U.S. as a baby, never obtained citizenship, lived in the country for 20 years, did not speak Spanish, and was deported to Tijuana without any money. Rogan characterized him as “essentially an American citizen” and emphasized, “He’s not a criminal.”
This criticism stands out because Rogan has not been a distant observer, he endorsed Trump for the 2024 election, interviewed him on the podcast, and attended his inauguration.
However, this isn’t Rogan’s first disagreement with the administration on deportation issues. He had previously warned his listeners about “people who are not criminals getting lassoed up and deported and sent to prisons in El Salvador,” referring to a widely discussed case as “horrific.”
Rogan’s argument does not reject enforcement entirely; his issue is about their priorities and the potential collateral damage affecting American citizens. It resonates with many Americans, even MAGA supporters, who recognize the contribution of migrant workers to the economy and American families torn apart.
Rogan, like many independent voters are having a change of heart with Trump and his MAGA movement.
