TO IMMIGRANTS who live in the shadows, or in the interminable half-light of the asylum system, the signals in two large countries are ominous. Germany’s government is seeking to make it easier and quicker to deport failed asylum-seekers. America promises to “take the shackles off” its immigration officers and boost their numbers. In a speech to Congress on February 28th, Donald Trump mentioned two illegal immigrants—both of them murderers. In both countries, politics is lubricating the deportation machine. Mr Trump is delivering the crackdown he promised on the campaign trail; Germany is gearing up for elections in September, in which the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party threatens to do well. In both countries, civil-rights groups call deportation brutal and unfair. In both, the federal government has clashed with local officials. But the differences are instructive, too. Germany’s actions are proportionate and sensible. America’s are not.

Pick your targets carefully

In principle, deporting people who fall foul of immigration rules is wise, even liberal. It is the corollary of a generous immigration system—proof that rules can be upheld and that a country can open its doors without losing control. In practice, deportation is tricky and choices must be made. It can be done humanely and efficiently. Or it can be callous and sloppy, so that it tears social bonds and makes a country less safe.

Since January 2015 almost 1.2m people have sought asylum in Germany—more than in any other European country. Of the cases it has heard, Germany has accepted 39% as refugees and offered protection to others. That still leaves a lot of rejects, many of whom are clinging on. Soon there could be half a million foreigners in Germany who have been told to leave.

Although deporting them all would be impossible—many are not acknowledged by the countries they fled—Germany wants to push more out of the door. So it plans to ban failed asylum-seekers from moving around the country and to offer money to hopeless cases if they depart of their own accord (see article). It will crack down on serious criminals. The federal government is also prodding states to be more vigorous. They are in charge of deportations, and at the moment they do not all agree that it is safe to return people to Afghanistan.

As Germany tries to deter recent arrivals from digging in, and focuses on the worst offenders, America is doing more or less the opposite. It has about 11m illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Centre. Two-thirds of the adults have been in the country for at least ten years and two-fifths have children, many of whom are citizens. Although almost all illegal immigrants could in theory be deported, in recent years most effort has gone on removing recent arrivals and those who have committed serious crimes.

Not any more. America’s Department of Homeland Security proposes to target all illicit immigrants who have “committed an act for which they could face charges”. Since Congress has criminalised many things that such people do (eg, using false Social Security numbers) that means open season on almost everyone. More children will be deported; parents who pay smugglers to bring their offspring to America will be prosecuted. Local police will be used as “force multipliers”.

By widening the net to catch longer-established immigrants, who tend to have children and better jobs, Mr Trump’s government will cause immense harm to families and to the country. Already-long queues at the immigration courts will lengthen. Federal officers will be pitted against local ones. Police in many cities refuse to act as proxy immigration officers, on the sensible ground that illegal immigrants should not be afraid of talking to them. Pushing them to co-operate with gung-ho federal officers invites a clash. Last week the mayor of Los Angeles told immigration officers to stop referring to themselves as police.

In America, many illegal immigrants have been around for decades and become part of society. Confusingly, when Mr Trump is not tarring unauthorised migrants as murderers, he says he is open to talking to Democrats about a comprehensive reform that would allow some of them to become legal (though not to earn full citizenship). That would be an excellent idea; but so far his actions speak louder than his words.