How Biden and Harris Triggered the Border Crisis — and Left ICE Holding the Bag

ICE, Accountability, and the Cost of Open Borders: Who Really Created the Crisis?

In moments of national stress, Americans have always searched for someone to blame. When streets feel unsafe, when public services buckle, when communities fracture under pressure, the instinct is to point at the most visible actor and declare them the villain. Today, that role has been assigned—conveniently and loudly—to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Protest signs scream their name. Activists chant it in the streets. Progressive politicians invoke it as shorthand for cruelty and chaos.

But blaming ICE for the disorder unfolding in American cities is not just wrong—it is a deliberate act of misdirection. ICE did not create this crisis. ICE did not open the border. ICE did not invite millions of unvetted migrants into an already-strained system, nor did it dismantle the enforcement mechanisms that once kept immigration lawful and orderly. ICE is not the arsonist. ICE is the firefighter, called in after the house was already burning.

To understand how we arrived here—why cities like Minneapolis now find themselves at the center of immigration-driven conflict—we have to stop reacting emotionally and start tracing responsibility honestly.

A Crisis by Design, Not Accident

The current immigration disaster did not emerge overnight, nor did it happen by chance. It was the foreseeable consequence of deliberate policy choices made at the highest levels of government. From the moment Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office, the signal to the world was unmistakable: America’s borders were no longer enforced with seriousness or resolve.

Signature deterrence policies were dismantled almost immediately. “Remain in Mexico” was scrapped. Title 42 was terminated without a viable replacement. Deportations slowed to a crawl. Interior enforcement was buried under layers of bureaucratic restrictions that effectively neutered ICE’s ability to act. What replaced these safeguards was not a coherent humanitarian system, but chaos disguised as compassion.

The result was predictable. Border encounters surged to historic highs. Smuggling networks flourished. Fraud rings exploited loopholes in asylum processing. And large numbers of migrants—many released into the interior with little to no supervision—settled in sanctuary jurisdictions that openly refused cooperation with federal authorities.

This was not empathy. It was negligence.

Sanctuary Policies and Urban Fallout

Sanctuary policies are often marketed as moral imperatives, but in practice they function as shields for disorder. By severing cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, sanctuary cities created zones where criminal behavior could fester without consequence. When ICE detainers were ignored, repeat offenders were released back into communities. When immigration status became untouchable, accountability evaporated.

Cities like Minneapolis did not ask to become flashpoints. But local leaders embraced ideological purity over practical governance, and the consequences followed. Housing systems collapsed under pressure. Emergency services were overwhelmed. Schools and hospitals strained to breaking points. Meanwhile, taxpayers watched billions vanish into mismanaged programs, fraudulent claims, and NGO pipelines that operated with little transparency and even less oversight.

When residents raised concerns, they were dismissed as xenophobic. When crime rose, data was obscured or redefined. When frustration turned into anger, officials blamed everyone except themselves.

And when ICE finally re-entered the picture to enforce existing law, the very politicians who created the mess cried foul.

ICE: From Enforcement to Scapegoat

For years, ICE was intentionally sidelined. Agents were instructed to deprioritize enforcement. Paperwork multiplied. Internal morale cratered. Officers were told, implicitly and explicitly, that doing their jobs made them political liabilities. Deportation numbers plummeted—not because crime disappeared, but because enforcement was politically inconvenient.

Now, as ICE resumes a more active role under Donald Trump’s renewed leadership, the reaction from the left has been immediate and furious. Arrests of convicted criminals are framed as “terror.” Workplace raids are labeled “Gestapo tactics.” Even targeted operations against fraud rings are described as racist crackdowns.

This is not outrage rooted in facts. It is outrage rooted in narrative preservation.

Every criminal removed undermines the claim that enforcement is unnecessary. Every deportation exposes the failure of open-border idealism. Every restored standard of law highlights the recklessness of those who dismantled it in the first place.

So ICE must be vilified—not because it is doing harm, but because it is revealing the truth.

The Human Cost of Open Borders

Lost in the shouting is the reality that unchecked immigration harms the very people it claims to help. Migrants are exploited by smugglers. Women and children are trafficked. Labor is undercut, wages depressed, and working-class communities—often minority communities—bear the brunt of competition for housing, healthcare, and education.

Meanwhile, criminals exploit the chaos. Gang members slip through overwhelmed screening systems. Repeat offenders hide behind sanctuary protections. Fraud rings siphon public funds meant for genuine humanitarian relief. These are not hypothetical concerns; they are documented patterns that emerge wherever enforcement collapses.

To oppose ICE enforcement is not to defend immigrants—it is to defend disorder.

Political Hypocrisy on Full Display

Perhaps the most galling aspect of this debate is the sheer hypocrisy of those now decrying federal intervention. For years, they insisted there was no crisis. They mocked concerns about border security. They labeled enforcement advocates as extremists. They welcomed the influx and declared it a moral victory.

But when the consequences arrived—when cities buckled, budgets bled red ink, and voters revolted—the narrative shifted overnight. Suddenly, the “invasion” language they once condemned became useful. Suddenly, federal authority was oppressive. Suddenly, enforcement was violence.

What changed was not reality, but political convenience.

Law Enforcement Is Not the Enemy

ICE agents are not cartoon villains. They are men and women enforcing laws passed by Congress—laws that remain on the books regardless of who occupies the White House. They operate under scrutiny, risk their safety, and endure relentless public hostility for doing a job that political leaders were too cowardly to defend.

Doxxing campaigns target their families. Protests disrupt operations. Churches are used as political shields. Activists attempt to obstruct arrests, then claim victimhood when consequences follow. This is not civil resistance; it is lawlessness masquerading as virtue.

A nation that cannot enforce its laws cannot remain a nation. Borders are not optional. Sovereignty is not negotiable. Compassion without control is chaos.

Accountability Starts at the Top

If Americans want to fix the immigration crisis, they must resist the urge to scapegoat and instead demand accountability from those who engineered the collapse. That means confronting the Biden-Harris record honestly. It means questioning governors and mayors who embraced sanctuary policies without contingency plans. It means rejecting the media narratives that blur cause and effect.

Most of all, it means recognizing that enforcement is not cruelty—it is responsibility.

Conclusion: Order Is Not Extremism

The choice facing the country is stark. Continue down the path of denial, disorder, and ideological indulgence—or restore a system grounded in law, accountability, and national interest. ICE is not the obstacle to reform; it is an essential instrument of it.

Blaming ICE for the consequences of open-border policies is like blaming paramedics for the wreckage left by reckless drivers. It may feel emotionally satisfying, but it solves nothing. The cleanup is underway not because of failure, but because of overdue correction.

America First does not mean America closed. It means America governed. It means borders enforced, laws applied, and leaders held responsible for the outcomes of their decisions.

The streets are not being “taken.” They are being restored.

Let the critics scream. The work must continue.