Years Later, the New York Times Concedes Biden Administration Fueled Historic Illegal Immigration Surge

After years of denial, even legacy media now concede federal policies—not chance—drove record border crossings.

At the close of 2025, the New York Times quietly confirmed what border communities, law enforcement, and critics of the Biden administration have argued for years: the historic surge in illegal immigration was not accidental. It was the predictable result of deliberate policy choices combined with bureaucratic failure. 

According to federal data, encounters at the southwest border reached unprecedented levels during the Biden administration, exceeding 10 million encounters between fiscal years 2021 and 2024. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s official statistics show that apprehensions more than doubled from FY 2020 to FY 2022 alone, overwhelming border facilities and interior cities alike.

The surge coincided with sweeping policy reversals. In January 2023, the Department of Homeland Security formally expanded parole programs for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, allowing hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter the U.S. outside the traditional visa system. 

The administration simultaneously narrowed interior enforcement. DHS enforcement guidelines issued in September 2021 deprioritized large categories of removable aliens, effectively limiting deportations even amid record crossings. 

Internal government watchdogs later confirmed the consequences. A DHS Office of Inspector General report found that border facilities routinely exceeded capacity and that migrants were released into the interior with limited tracking or follow-up. 

Only now, years after communities absorbed the costs, has the New York Times framed these outcomes as a policy-driven failure. The facts were always there—in federal records, regulations, and reports. What changed was not the evidence, but the willingness to acknowledge it.