They are saying because Kamala did not want mass ICE deportations that we wouldn't be having mass ICE deportations in LA.

Are they saying that somewhere else? Because I didn't see that anywhere in the text of either of the two comments in the chain.

More accurately though: Kamala does not brashly call for mass ICE deportations like Trump does because she needs to maintain an image of being an opposition. And the point of maintaining this veneer of being an opposition party is to provide a pressure valve. The goal is to manufacture consent, to pacify liberals who might otherwise figure out that the system does nothing for them and become leftists, to put a "woke" face on the evil agenda of capitalism so liberals can smugly claim to be the only people fighting for social justice and simultaneously block out any radical voices.

That doesn't mean she, and the Biden admin that she promised to be an extension of, wouldn't be having mass ICE deportations all over the country. It only means that liberals would be cool with it like they were with ICE deportations under the Biden and Obama administrations. Because liberals, by and large, like the violence. The ones who figure out that they don't become leftists.

Even if you believe Kamala and Trump share the beliefs/end goals/policies whatever, there is at least one distinction and that is she did not want mass ICE immigration. Therefore, she is LESS harmful.

Honestly, the only material difference between the two is what they say in public. It's only an indicator at best of the trajectory of the system.

Like imagine if your car is smoking in the front, and the mechanic is like "The transmission is fucked, the engine is on fire, the battery also exploded, and I'm not going to do anything about it", but then you take the car to another mechanic and they're like "The transmission is fucked, the engine is on fire, the battery also exploded, and I'm not going to do anything about it, but I'm willing to charge you $69 to turn off the Check Engine light." And hundreds of people in the internet are like "Bro you gotta fix the check engine light or your car will never work ever again bro please just go to the other mechanic and pay $69 and if you want to get a bike instead you secretly want your car to be on fire bro".

In a car, the Check Engine light is an indicator that something is wrong, just like in the US, the public rhetoric of the current administration is an indicator of the trajectory the system is on.

I'm not wasting my time to prop up liberal Democrat politicians who won't even pretend to attempt to change a goddamn thing. We know the system is working exactly as intended. It's oppressing the exact people it's supposed to oppress. And the Democrats aren't even pretending to care about the things they campaigned on stopping in the last election cycle. They're the baddies too, and I'm tired of pretending they're not.

I agree that the liberals love manufacturing consent, I agree that Kamala and the Biden administration would still be using ICE deportations like they were under Obama, and I mostly agree the democrats don't care about their voters and are bad people who want to maintain the status quo.

That being said I still think there is a material difference. Besides Trumps deportation and ICE policies, if literally every other policy decision between Kalama and Trump is the exact same I think there is still a material difference. The difference being Trump is using ICE more aggressively, capturing more people, and being more harmful. He has either stopped or severely limited the number of immigrants in the US. Trump is also using no badge and masked ICE to grab people off the streets. I do not believe Kamala would have done this and that is the material difference I see.
Now if you wanted to argue that the small difference doesn't matter, or that having a passive system is worse because it keeps more liberals ignorant longer and perpetuates the system longer thats a different discussion. (Not trying to put arguments in your mouth I just think this would be a related, but different topic)