Yes its all for show
Raids that only gather about 2,000 illegal aliens a month at most are inefficient...just 24,000 in a year..
with 25,000,000 to deport.. 2,000 a night would only mean 730,0000 have been deported within a year..
Maybe the other 24,000,000 plus illegal aliens will feel unwelcome and leave in a huff...
Happened (on a far smaller scale) in 1954.
"Operation Wetback deported approximately 80,000 Mexican nationals in the space of almost a year, although local INS officials claimed that an additional 500,000-700,000 had fled to Mexico before the campaign began. The INS estimates rested on the claim that most undocumented people, fearing apprehension by the government, had voluntarily repatriated themselves before and during the operation."
They did deport 200,000 last year. You can see the effect on the housing market.