The New York Times finally published a postmortem admitting what ordinary Americans have known for years: President Biden ignored internal warnings that his immigration approach would trigger chaos at the southern border. The Times piece documents memos and briefings from 2020 in which advisers cautioned that a softer stance would overwhelm processing capacities and create a humanitarian and political crisis. That admission is overdue, but it does not absolve the damage already done to border towns and to the rule of law.
Megyn Kelly and guests like Walter Kirn rightly pointed out the grotesque timing of the paper of record deciding to notice the problem only after the political fallout became undeniable. For a newsroom that spent years minimizing the crisis to suddenly act surprised is less journalism than damage control. Conservatives should be skeptical: the press is not cleaning house, it is saving face while trying to weaponize the story against President Trump.
The newly revealed memo and contemporaneous warnings described a likely surge and even used the term chaos, a prediction that came true when millions made the dangerous trek north. Reporting confirms that advisers urged tougher measures, reception centers, and other commonsense steps that would have eased the strain, yet those options were rejected out of fear of upsetting progressive constituencies. This was not an accident; it was a political calculation that sacrificed border security for ideological optics.
The political consequences were predictable and severe: the border became a defining issue that helped fuel a backlash and contributed to the voters returning Donald Trump to the White House. Polling and post-election analysis showed immigration rising as a top concern among swing voters, including those who felt left behind by elite priorities. When leaders dismiss the anxieties of working Americans, they do not get their trust back with belated confessions in editorial pages.
Beyond politics, the fiscal and public safety burden cascaded to states and counties who had to pick up the bill for housing, schooling, and medical care for new arrivals. Congressional Republicans and watchdogs have repeatedly warned about the staggering costs and the national security risks tied to uncontrolled flows. The administration’s refusal to act earlier transferred that burden to taxpayers and emergency responders on the ground who had no say in the policy decisions.
This episode proves a broader point: the coastal elites and the legacy media repeatedly put ideology ahead of ordinary citizens’ interests, and then scramble to reframe the narrative when it becomes politically convenient. We should not accept the same people who enabled the crisis now lecturing us about solutions while failing to own their role in creating the problem. Accountability means more than column inches; it means electing leaders who will secure the border and restore the rule of law.
Americans who work hard, pay taxes, and keep their communities safe deserve honest leadership that prioritizes security and common sense over virtue signaling. Conservatives must keep the pressure on, demand real policy changes, and ensure this administration or the next cannot repeat the same catastrophic mistakes. The New York Times can finally write the story, but it is up to patriotic voters to make sure the lesson turns into lasting reform.
