The count keeps climbing. More than 1,000 Somali asylum-seekers in Minnesota have been ordered deported since February. That tracks with the federal enforcement push that started last winter. MSN has the story, and the numbers are worth a look.

The Twin Cities has long been the center of Somali settlement in this state. The enforcement push has now reached that community in a big way. The orders started coming down after the administration made good on its enforcement promises last winter. A thousand-plus removal orders in about eight months out of one state is a real number. It didn't happen by accident. Somebody finally worked the file.

Some context for the jargon. A removal order is what a judge issues when a case ends in deportation. The 1,000-plus figure covers people who have been ordered deported, per the source reporting. That's the point where ICE gets involved and the paperwork starts turning into travel plans.

Now the usual crowd pipes up. Expect the hand-wringing about families and communities and how enforcement is tearing things apart. I've been hearing that song for decades and the melody never changes. Nobody forces anyone to file a weak claim. When your case gets its day in court and loses, the answer is the boarding gate. That has been the deal the entire time.

Worth noting what an order does and doesn't mean for actual removals. An order is paper until ICE executes it. How many of these 1,000 end up on planes in the coming months remains to be seen. Watch the interior enforcement numbers out of the Minneapolis field office. That's where the order turns into a seat filled.

Credit where it's due to the judges and attorneys working these cases. Decisions are getting made. Say what you want about the pace of the federal government generally, this is one corner of it doing its job, and the count shows it.

I'll keep tracking the number.

The scoreboard: more than 1,000 deportation orders since February, one state, eight months. The backlog is moving. The count says so.