VICTOR JOECKS: Broadacres bows to Trump on illegal immigration
Incentives matter — even for illegal immigrants.
Last week, Broadacres Marketplace in North Las Vegas shut down until further notice. The outdoor swap meet routinely draws more than 1,000 vendors and 15,000 people each weekend.
“Broadacres Marketplace temporarily closes due to ongoing ICE raids,” the company announced on its website. It said there are high levels of “fear and uncertainty” among “the immigrant community in Las Vegas.”
It continued, “We don’t want any of our customers, vendors or employees to be detained at our business.”
It’s not every day a company essentially admits to employing illegal immigrants.
One suspects there is more to the story. A few days before the announcement, ICE agents raided the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet in Southern California. Broadacres is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The Nevada Current reported that last Friday the “market was nearly empty” despite offering a steep discount on tickets. It wasn’t until Saturday that it announced the temporary shutdown.
It appears that Broadacres was more than willing to stay open if it could attract customers. It closed only after that effort failed.
Nevada Democrats went berserk. “This is devastating and a direct result of the Trump administration’s indiscriminate mass deportations,” Sen. Jacky Rosen wrote on X. She continued, “Going after law-abiding immigrants doesn’t just hurt families, it hurts our economy.”
The doublespeak would make George Orwell blush. Illegal immigrants — by definition — aren’t law-abiding. If they were, they would leave the country.
But Rosen is right about one thing. The Trump administration’s deportation push has changed the behavior of illegal immigrants. Many are afraid to leave their homes. They’re avoiding trips to the grocery store or even to get their mail. Some parents don’t want to send their children to school.
“This is what Trump’s America looks like — immigrant families living in fear, beloved community spaces shutting down, and ICE terrorizing our neighborhoods,” Assemblywoman Cecelia González, D-Las Vegas, wrote on X.
This is an example of why it’s vital to identify and avoid toxic empathy. Illegal immigrants are living in fear because they’re attempting to avoid the consequences of their own actions. No one attacks the police if a bank robber stays holed up in a hotel room trying to evade capture. Yet Democrats are outraged that President Donald Trump has ICE enforcing immigration law. This is another example of how state Democrats fight for illegal immigrants, not Nevadans.
If illegal immigrants are worried about deportation, there’s a solution — leave. The Trump administration is even giving $1,000 to illegal immigrants who leave voluntarily. If illegal immigrants believe there’s little risk of being deported, that’s not a very appealing offer. But if the fear of deportations is so strong that illegal immigrants trap themselves in their own homes, they’re more likely to take the offer.
The best deportations are self-deportations. And the closure of Broadacres is one example of why many illegal immigrants are now more likely to consider doing just that.
Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.
