American Thinker

by Jay Rogers

    This Monday February 23, 2026, President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation designating the date as National Angel Family Day. In his remarks, he rightly declared that the government had betrayed the families of American citizens killed by individuals living in our country illegally. He noted that these victims were the result of politicians who placed the comfort of foreign criminals ahead of the safety of American citizens. This day honors the so-called Angel families, those left to grieve because of preventable tragedies.

    This day should never have happened. The very existence of Angel families stands as a damning indictment of the Biden-Harris administration’s open-border experiment. Their deliberate policy choices dismantled proven security measures from the prior administration and invited chaos on a historic scale. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection records, nationwide encounters with illegal immigrants surpassed 10 million during their term in office, not counting an estimated two million known gotaways who simply disappeared into the interior. These were not random events. They were the predictable outcome of ending Remain in Mexico, halting wall construction, and rolling out catch-and-release programs along with mass parole initiatives.

    No one embodied this failure more clearly than Department of Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He sat before Congress on multiple occasions and testified under oath that the border was secure, that operational control existed, and that the situation remained under control. Each statement contradicted the visible reality of record crossings, cartel dominance, and American deaths from fentanyl. The House of Representatives impeached him on articles charging willful refusal to enforce federal immigration laws and breach of public trust. Democrats in the Senate blocked conviction and protected him. In doing so, they ensured the policies continued. The blood of innocent Americans rests squarely on the hands of those who chose partisan loyalty over public safety.

    The human cost defies statistics. Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five, was raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who had crossed the border several times before. Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl in Houston, was strangled by two Venezuelan men released into the United States under Biden parole programs. Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student, was killed while jogging by a Venezuelan gang member who should never have remained in the country after prior encounters. These stories are not outliers. They are the direct result of a system that treated our southern border like an optional suggestion rather than a sovereign line.

    As a graduate of Northeastern University with a degree in Criminal Justice, I have spent decades studying crime, enforcement, and the real-world consequences of weak borders. I arrived in California in 1990 under Governor Pete Wilson when the economy hummed and optimism prevailed. I have since witnessed the state’s slide into single-party rule, strained services, and the same failed logic now applied nationally. My financial services career has also trained me to examine balance sheets without illusion. The ledger on these policies is devastating.

    Conservative estimates from the Federation for American Immigration Reform place the net annual fiscal burden on American taxpayers at $150.7 billion. That figure rises sharply with the Biden-era surge. When all categories are totaled, the comprehensive cost of the border crisis under Biden-Harris policies could exceed $451 billion per year, according to analyses from the House Homeland Security Committee that factor in services for the millions released or paroled plus known gotaways.

    Break it down category by category for clarity.

    Second, healthcare. Hospitals absorb uncompensated emergency care and emergency Medicaid for illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children. Congressional analyses peg this at over $22 billion yearly, with border-state and sanctuary-city facilities pushed to the breaking point. The Congressional Budget Office separately confirmed more than $16.2 billion in Medicaid emergency services alone under the Biden-Harris open-border agenda.

    Third, education. Federal law requires public K-12 schools to educate every child regardless of status. The price tag exceeds $70 billion annually when including limited-English instruction, special services, and the children of illegal immigrants.

    Fourth, welfare and public assistance. Studies from the Center for Immigration Studies show that 59 to 61 percent of illegal immigrant households use at least one major welfare program, often through U.S.-born children. Food assistance, Medicaid for eligible minors, and cash programs add tens of billions more.

    Finally, the sanctuary-city experiment and outright fraud. New York City alone has spent over $7 billion on shelter, food, and services for recent arrivals, with daily housing costs averaging $370 per person. Similar burdens hit Chicago, Denver, and Massachusetts. Taxpayers footed the bill for free hotels, meals, and medical care while many American families struggled with inflation and housing shortages. It is the ultimate example of misplaced priorities. Nowhere is the fraud more brazen than in Minneapolis, where illegal immigrants and associated networks orchestrated over $1 billion in public benefits scams. Federal investigations have exposed schemes involving phony nonprofits that bilked hundreds of millions from child nutrition programs like Feeding Our Future, fake Medicaid billing for nonexistent autism services and housing assistance, and pandemic relief fraud. These rackets did not occur in a vacuum. They thrived under the same lax enforcement and sanctuary mindset that turned taxpayer-funded programs into an all-you-can-steal buffet.

    One might say the previous administration’s border strategy was about as reliable as a screen door on a submarine. Or, to borrow the blunt style of one of my favorite podcasters Adam Carolla, they treated the southern border like it was optional, much like skipping the rebar in your concrete foundation, and then acted shocked when the whole structure wobbled. This was no Hollywood script from a Jack Ryan novel where heroes arrive in the final reel. It was real life, with real victims, playing out like a bad sequel nobody wanted.

    Solutions exist and are straightforward. Enforce existing statutes with mandatory detention and swift removal. Complete physical barriers and advanced technology along high-traffic sectors. End sanctuary policies and condition federal funding on cooperation with immigration enforcement. Prioritize deportation of all criminal illegal immigrants and recent arrivals. Mandate nationwide E-Verify to eliminate the job magnet. Reform asylum rules to prevent systemic abuse. Hold accountable any official who willfully violates oaths of office. These steps restore the rule of law, protect American citizens, and deliver measurable fiscal relief.

    Discipline and integrity matter. Criminals must face consequences. Bureaucracy that shields incompetence serves no one. As a life member of the NRA and a firm believer in self-defense rights, I know safety begins at home with secure borders and accountable leadership. National Angel Family Day should remind every elected official that America exists to protect its own people first. With President Trump back in office, we have the opportunity to ensure such a day never becomes routine again. The choice is clear: enforce the law, secure the republic, and put citizens ahead of ideology. Anything less repeats the betrayal we now solemnly remember.

    Jay Rogers is an investment professional and entrepreneur working for over three decades in the financial services industry. Jay provides expert witness services including testimony for litigation involving fiduciary duty, contracts, business disputes, securities and investment industry matters. His career began with such firms as Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Bear Stearns, and later transitioned to working full-time with family offices and creating diverse investment portfolios.

    Jay is a guest lecturer at the USC Marshall School of Business and a frequent speaker at industry events on family office and alternative investment issues. He has appeared on CNN’s Your Money and is frequently quoted and interviewed for financial publications including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and NPR.