Opinion

Open borders were insane, but politicians didn’t care. Families like mine paid the price

Illegal immigrants brought crime, but politicians claimed there was nothing they could do

By Joe Abraham Fox News

Published June 14, 2026 9:00am EDT

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Tom Homan touts Trump admin's escalated illegal immigration crackdown in New York

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan discusses the escalated crackdown on illegal immigration, criticizing New York Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul's anti-ICE policies.

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Katie Abraham should still be alive.

Her death was preventable.

It was the product of political fanaticism, governmental malpractice and moral cowardice. The Biden-Harris administration dismantled enforcement while publicly pretending otherwise. Illinois officials followed enthusiastically.

Americans were instructed not to believe their own eyes.

AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT KILLED MY DAUGHTER. KATIE AND ILLINOIS ARE BOTH GETTING JUSTICE

FILE: Migrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

We were told the border was secure.

We were told enforcement required new legislation.

We were told sanctuary policies enhanced public safety.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ACCUSED OF KILLING LOYOLA STUDENT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN, DHS SAYS

We were told mass illegal migration was compassionate and controlled.

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It was propaganda.

Within days of taking office, President Donald Trump demonstrated that existing law already granted the executive branch immense authority to secure the border. The excuse that nothing could be done without Congress immediately collapsed.

TRUMP HAS SEALED THE BORDER. NOW, DEMOCRATS ARE HELL-BENT ON ENDING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

For years, the public was deliberately misled into believing the executive branch was powerless to respond. Politicians, activists and sympathetic commentators repeated the same rehearsed fiction: Congress had to act first.

But federal law already provided expansive enforcement authority.

The crisis persisted because powerful officials did not want meaningful enforcement. They favored mass release, expanded parole, reduced detention, weakened removals and sanctuary protections that obstructed cooperation with federal authorities.

We were........

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