A DHS Record Democrats Seem To Have Forgotten

Sunday, February 1, 2026, 11:45 A.M. ET. 6 Minute Read, Opinion, Editorial, By Jennifer Hodges, Political Editor: Englebrook Independent News,

WASHINGTON, DC.- U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has recently taken to microphones with a sudden and dramatic demand: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be “put on ICE,” fired, or impeached.

     The language was not accidental. It was theatrical, calculated, and designed to provoke. But what Jeffries did not explain, and what Democratic leadership does not want examined, is why this newfound appetite for accountability only appeared after Democrats lost control of the Department of Homeland Security.

     Because for four years prior, when the border was in its most chaotic, lawless, and dangerous condition in modern American history, Democratic leadership said virtually nothing.

     That silence tells the real story.

Accountability, Invented After The Fact;

     Under the former Biden administration, DHS was led by Alejandro Mayorkas, a figure repeatedly accused, by career border officials, whistleblowers, and congressional investigators, of misleading both Congress and the American people about the state of the southern border.

     Yet during that entire period, Jeffries never called for Mayorkas to be “put on ICE.”

     He never demanded impeachment.

     He never accused him of dereliction of duty.

     Instead, Mayorkas was shielded, defended, and praised by House Democrats even as evidence mounted that DHS had lost operational control of the border.

     Today, that same party pretends enforcement itself is a scandal.

Four Years of Denial: A DHS Record Democrats Want Erased;

     From January 2021 through January 2025, the Department of Homeland Security presided over what can only be described as a systemic collapse of immigration enforcement.

     This was not an accident.

     It was not a temporary surge.

     It was a deliberate policy posture.

     The Biden administration dismantled or neutered nearly every meaningful enforcement mechanism inherited from the prior administration, from interior removals to expedited proceedings, replacing them with expansive parole authorities and catch-and-release policies rebranded as “humane.”

     The result was predictable.

Operational Control Was Lost

     Border Patrol leadership publicly acknowledged that agents were being pulled from patrol duties to process overwhelming numbers of illegal entrants. Cartels quickly adapted, exploiting manpower shortages to increase trafficking operations. Surveillance gaps widened. Smuggling routes multiplied.

     Yet Mayorkas stood before cameras and insisted the border was “secure.”

     That statement was false when it was first uttered, and Democrats knew it.

Criminal Consequences Were Not Hypothetical;

     Democratic leaders often insist that crimes committed by illegal immigrants are rare or statistically insignificant. That argument collapses when examined honestly.

     Under the Biden–Mayorkas DHS, communities across the United States experienced repeated criminal incidents involving individuals who:

• Entered the U.S. illegally
• Were encountered by federal authorities
• Were released into the interior
• And later arrested for new crimes

     These were not “unknown” individuals. They were known, documented, and deliberately released.

Violent Crimes

     Law enforcement agencies documented cases involving murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, and domestic violence perpetrated by individuals unlawfully present in the United States. In multiple instances, suspects had prior immigration encounters or final removal orders that were never executed.

     Each case represented a failure of enforcement and a choice.

Drug Trafficking and Fentanyl Deaths

     During this same period, fentanyl overdose deaths surged to record levels. DHS and DEA officials confirmed that cartels exploited overwhelmed border infrastructure, using migrant surges as cover to move narcotics through ports of entry and remote crossings.

     Record seizures were touted as success stories. But seizures represent interception, not prevention. They are proof of scale, not control.

Human Trafficking and Missing Children

     Federal oversight reports revealed that tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors were released to sponsors with minimal follow-up. DHS later admitted it lost contact with many of these children.

     This was not compassion.

     It was abandonment. 

The Lie That Enabled It All;

     The central pillar of Democratic border policy was not enforcement; it was denial.

     Mayorkas repeatedly assured the public the border was under control while simultaneously requesting emergency funding, expanding parole authority, and suspending removals.

     Those contradictions were never reconciled because Democrats never demanded they be.

     The media largely complied. Congressional oversight was obstructed. Whistleblowers were attacked.

     And now, years later, Democrats want the country to believe they suddenly care about accountability.

Illegal Entry Is A Federal Crime, And Always Has Been;

     One fact remains immutable, no matter how loudly Democrats protest enforcement:

Illegal entry into the United States is a federal crime.

     That is not a partisan interpretation.

     That is not a rhetorical device.

     It is codified law.

     Under long-standing federal statutes, individuals who enter the United States without inspection or authorization commit a criminal offense. That law did not change under former President Joe Biden. What changed was whether his administration chose to enforce it.

     For four years, enforcement was deliberately deprioritized, reframed as cruelty, and treated as optional. That decision had real, measurable, and deadly consequences.

     Secretary Noem’s enforcement of existing law is not radical. It is normal. And to Democrats, normal enforcement is intolerable.

Why Kristi Noem Is the Target;

     Kristi Noem is not being attacked for violating the law. She is being attacked for enforcing it.

     Her leadership exposes the central lie of the prior administration: that chaos was unavoidable, and lawlessness was compassion. By restoring enforcement, she exposes how unnecessary and deliberate the previous failures were.

     That is what Democrats cannot forgive.

     So instead of confronting their record, they attempt to criminalize enforcement itself, using language designed to inflame rather than inform.

Selective Memory, Selective Morality;

     If misleading Congress about border security were grounds for impeachment. Then why did Mayporkas’ impeachment die in the Senate as every other impeachment? 

     If releasing known offenders were disqualifying, Democrats would have demanded resignations across DHS leadership.

     They did neither.

     Instead, they defended failure and now condemn success.

Political Theater Cannot Erase The Record;

     Jeffries’ rhetoric is not serious governance. It is narrative control. It is an attempt to rewrite four years of documented failure by pretending the real scandal began when enforcement resumed.

     But the American people remember.

     They remember the denial.

     They remember the victims.

     They remember who refused to act.

The Reckoning Democrats Tried To Avoid;

     This moment was always coming. A return to enforcement was inevitable, and with it, a reckoning.

     Democrats are not angry because laws are being broken. They are angry because their illusion has been shattered.

     The border did not suddenly become a crisis. It was ignored.

     The law was not unclear. It was unenforced.

     The damage was not unforeseeable. It was dismissed.

History Is Not On Their Side;

     Attempts to smear Kristi Noem will fail for the same reason attempts to deny the border crisis failed: facts endure.

     Four years of denial cannot be erased by a press conference. And no amount of selective outrage can obscure the record Democrats left behind at the Department of Homeland Security.

Editor’s Note:

This op-ed reflects the analysis and opinion of Jennifer Hodges, Political Editor for Englebrook Independent News. Assertions regarding border enforcement, criminal activity, and DHS operations are based on publicly available DHS oversight reports, law-enforcement testimony, and congressional records during the Biden administration. Illegal entry into the United States remains a federal crime under long-standing U.S. immigration law. Englebrook Independent News maintains a strict distinction between fact-based reporting and opinion commentary and publishes analysis grounded in verifiable public records.