SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Todd Lyons, then-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deputy field office director, talks with his agents after they made three arrests on September 25, 2019 in Revere, Massachusetts.
(Photo: Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Trump's ICE Chief Craves Deportation Process Like Amazon Prime, 'But With Human Beings'
"This is a chilling example of drawing inspiration from Nazi Germany to deploy logistics for mass deportation and ethnic cleansing," wrote one journalist.
Apr 09, 2025
While speaking a 2025 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons outlined a chilling vision for how deportations in the United States ought to be carried out: with the swift efficiency of Amazon Prime.
"We need to get better at treating this like a business," said Lyons, explaining that he wants to see a deportation process that is "like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings." His comments citing the e-commerce giant's subscription service were first reported by the Arizona Mirror.
"This is a chilling example of drawing inspiration from Nazi Germany to deploy logistics for mass deportation and ethnic cleansing," wrote journalist Luis Feliz Leon in response to Lyons' statement.
Lyons was one of a number of administration officials who spoke at the Expo, according to the Mirror, including Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The purpose of the expo was to convene military and tech companies that are competing for government border contracts.
Noem herself sparked Nazi comparisons for a video she filmed last month while touring the megaprison in El Salvador that is currently holding over 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants who were deported by the Trump administration in March.
The Trump administration has been locked in a fierce legal battle over its removal of some of those deportees using the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked law that gives the president broad authority to detain or deport foreign-born people during times of war or invasion.
ICE has admitted that one of the men sent to El Salvador was deported in "error." U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday blocked another judge's order directing the Trump administration to return the man by Monday evening.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
immigration and customs enforcementunited statesmass deportationsamazon.comimmigrationdonald trumpalien enemies act
While speaking a 2025 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons outlined a chilling vision for how deportations in the United States ought to be carried out: with the swift efficiency of Amazon Prime.
"We need to get better at treating this like a business," said Lyons, explaining that he wants to see a deportation process that is "like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings." His comments citing the e-commerce giant's subscription service were first reported by the Arizona Mirror.
"This is a chilling example of drawing inspiration from Nazi Germany to deploy logistics for mass deportation and ethnic cleansing," wrote journalist Luis Feliz Leon in response to Lyons' statement.
Lyons was one of a number of administration officials who spoke at the Expo, according to the Mirror, including Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The purpose of the expo was to convene military and tech companies that are competing for government border contracts.
Noem herself sparked Nazi comparisons for a video she filmed last month while touring the megaprison in El Salvador that is currently holding over 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants who were deported by the Trump administration in March.
The Trump administration has been locked in a fierce legal battle over its removal of some of those deportees using the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked law that gives the president broad authority to detain or deport foreign-born people during times of war or invasion.
ICE has admitted that one of the men sent to El Salvador was deported in "error." U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday blocked another judge's order directing the Trump administration to return the man by Monday evening.
From Your Site Articles
- Opinion | The Dystopia of the Border Security Expo Is Trump’s Response to the Climate Emergency | Common Dreams ›
- ICE Impersonator Zip-Tied Woman and Stole $1,000 | Common Dreams ›
- 'Make Corporate Complicity Unprofitable': Boycott Targets Companies Tied to ICE | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | The Nazi Political Theory That Explains ICE's Impunity | Common Dreams ›
- Democrats Report Overcrowding, Medical Neglect at Arizona ICE Facility After Unannounced Visit | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
While speaking a 2025 Border Security Expo in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons outlined a chilling vision for how deportations in the United States ought to be carried out: with the swift efficiency of Amazon Prime.
"We need to get better at treating this like a business," said Lyons, explaining that he wants to see a deportation process that is "like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings." His comments citing the e-commerce giant's subscription service were first reported by the Arizona Mirror.
"This is a chilling example of drawing inspiration from Nazi Germany to deploy logistics for mass deportation and ethnic cleansing," wrote journalist Luis Feliz Leon in response to Lyons' statement.
Lyons was one of a number of administration officials who spoke at the Expo, according to the Mirror, including Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The purpose of the expo was to convene military and tech companies that are competing for government border contracts.
Noem herself sparked Nazi comparisons for a video she filmed last month while touring the megaprison in El Salvador that is currently holding over 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran immigrants who were deported by the Trump administration in March.
The Trump administration has been locked in a fierce legal battle over its removal of some of those deportees using the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely invoked law that gives the president broad authority to detain or deport foreign-born people during times of war or invasion.
ICE has admitted that one of the men sent to El Salvador was deported in "error." U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday blocked another judge's order directing the Trump administration to return the man by Monday evening.
From Your Site Articles
- Opinion | The Dystopia of the Border Security Expo Is Trump’s Response to the Climate Emergency | Common Dreams ›
- ICE Impersonator Zip-Tied Woman and Stole $1,000 | Common Dreams ›
- 'Make Corporate Complicity Unprofitable': Boycott Targets Companies Tied to ICE | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | The Nazi Political Theory That Explains ICE's Impunity | Common Dreams ›
- Democrats Report Overcrowding, Medical Neglect at Arizona ICE Facility After Unannounced Visit | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.