continued from page rorized, “babies ….

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rorized, “babies being teargassed,” and Americans being targeted for little more than “having an accent or whatever.” It was a story designed to provoke outrage — and one that Democrats’ obstruction has helped make plausible.

Kimmel went further, misrepresenting key facts surrounding the shooting of Renee Good, weaving partial truths into a broader fiction that framed the incident as emblematic of lawless tyranny. The Department of Homeland Security’s own missteps — prematurely labeling cases as acts of domestic terrorism — made that narrative easier to sell. But Kimmel’s conclusion was not limited to those failures. It amounted to a rejection of immigration enforcement itself.

Equally misleading was his suggestion that this chaos is unfolding everywhere. It is not. The disturbances are concentrated in blue cities that refuse to cooperate with ICE. In red cities, where cooperation exists, enforcement occurs quietly and without spectacle.

For voters trying to assess the situation honestly, the dynamic is deeply frustrating. State and local officials obstruct federal law, enforcement becomes riskier and more visible, and then federal agents are blamed when things go wrong. Public opinion, however, does not pause for nuance. As CNN analyst Harry Enten recently noted, ICE’s approval ratings have sharply declined.

That political reality

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has now forced the administration to recalibrate. Border czar Tom Homan — long viewed as the most disciplined and clear-eyed voice on enforcement — has been put front and center. From the beginning, Homan has emphasized investigations, lawful process, and deescalation where possible. He has often appeared to be the adult in the room.

Whether that recalibration succeeds will depend in large part on Minnesota’s leaders and Minneapolis officials. Democrats clearly sense momentum. They believe obstruction is paying dividends. That belief should give pause.

History offers a warning. In 2020, police were vilified, departments were defunded, and law enforcement briefly became politically radioactive. Then crime surged, public opinion snapped back, and Democrats found themselves underwater on policing for years.

Minneapolis may follow the same trajectory. Democrats may win the immediate battle — turning ICE into a temporary villain and shifting attention away from illegal immigration. But in doing so, they risk losing the war. When consequences arrive, voters tend to remember who dismantled enforcement, not who defended it.

Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and cofounder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www. creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS. COM