As many people noted during Trump 1.0, the cruelty was the point; the administration concluded that extreme measures were necessary to broadcast to the world that illegal immigrants were not welcome here. Is the same message being sent this time around?
No. the point of sending masked thugs to blue cities is to prove to the residents, whether citizens or not, that Trump is in charge, and that dissent will only be tolerated within strict limits. It is about authority, not deterrence.
It is even more obnoxious than before.