As progressive activists destroy downtown Los Angeles over immigration enforcement, we should understand this is not unfolding in a vacuum. And President Donald Trump shouldn’t be the target of their ire. Immigration enforcement is the inevitable result of President Joe Biden’s open‑border policies—policies that have allowed millions to flood our borders for over three and a half years, setting the stage for a Trump administration correction.

In Los Angeles alone, ICE arrested scores of activists after rioting, mass vandalism, assaults on law enforcement, and breaking curfews. The unrest has spread coast-to-coast—including in Seattle—with hundreds more arrested, officers injured, and property damaged.

Who’s to blame? Blame Biden (or whoever was running the country at the time).

Joe Biden’s policies forced Donald Trump to act on illegal immigration

The Biden administration oversaw a historic surge in illegal immigration.

According to DHS data, law enforcement logged historic encounters at the southern border between January 2021 and January 2024—not including “gotaways.” That level of lawlessness fueled wide public anxiety about our national security and, after several high-profile crimes involving illegal immigrants, the American people finally understood the devastating impact of Biden’s (and Democrats’) open borders.

Polls consistently showed support for significant action against illegal immigrants. Even among self-identified Democrats, most support border security measures. A 2024 Washington Post analysis labeled Biden’s surge in border crossings “a key issue,” and said Americans want enforcement, not open borders.

Biden inspired the mass immigration crackdown

Had Biden not kept the border wide open—halting the wall, reversing Trump policies, loosening title‑42 and deportation priorities—we wouldn’t be here.

Millions entered unchecked, public trust eroded, and anger grew until Trump responded. Now, ICE is doing the job Biden refused to do—enforcing immigration law—and the Radical Left gets upset?

If you’re outraged by Trump’s immigration enforcement, direct your ire at Biden’s open border policy. Because if the border had remained secure, if law and order had been enforced when migrants crossed illegally, there’d be no need for mass roundups of those millions now living in the shadows.

Through open borders, Biden didn’t just let immigration “happen.” He created an environment where voters would clamor for enforcement, which is precisely what Trump is delivering. The moral of this week’s violent spectacle isn’t that ICE is overreacting. It’s that the country finally began enforcing immigration law. And when any country begins applying its laws after years of ignoring them, social strain may follow.

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