NYT op-ed mocked for dismissing border crisis as fearmongering tactic: 'Reprehensible excuse for journalism'

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Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez weighs in on post-Title 42 border crisis

Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez joins Cavuto Live to discuss the border crisis following the ending of Title 42, Texas handling of illegal migrant crossings and fentanyl border busts. 

An op-ed for the New York Times warned readers on Saturday that "If You’re Hearing About the Border" it’s more likely that "Someone Is Trying to Scare You." 

Contributing opinion writer Megan K. Stack wrote the news surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly after the expiration of the Title 42 policy, was due to politicization rather than any security concerns.

"Here’s the truth: If you’re hearing about the border, it’s likely that somebody is trying to scare you. Broadly speaking, Republicans want you to be scared of immigrants, and Democrats want you to be scared of Republicans. Our fixation on terrorists has faded, but we have retained, as a legacy from that frightened era, the habit of thinking about the border as a security risk that must be mastered," Stack wrote.

Migrants wait in line adjacent to the border fence under the watch of the Texas National Guard to enter into El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 10, 2023.  (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)

The dismissal of border concerns along with what many saw as a provocative headline drew backlash from social media users.

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Fox News contributor Miranda Devine tweeted, "Peak gaslighting from the NYT today denying the invasion of illegal immigrants: ‘If you’re hearing about the border, someone is trying to scare you.’"

"We went from 1933 Germany and concentration camps to ‘what's a border?’" The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller joked.

"I guess the @NYCMayor has been trying to scare me…" Conservative satire author @amuse agreed.

Heritage Foundation Vice President James Jay Carafano tweeted, "Reprehensible excuse for journalism."

"If you’re hearing about fear-mongering about the border, someone is trying to scare you," RealClearInvestigations editor-at-large Benjamin Weingarten explained.

Migrants with CBP One App interviews are allowed to enter the United States at the Chaparral pedestrian border on May 16, 2023 in Tijuana, Mexico, as the new Title 8 rule is being implemented for all asylum seekers after Title 42 rescinded on May 11.  ((Photo by Carlos A. Moreno/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images))

Biden administration officials noted the border did not experience a predicted "surge" in migrant encounters after Title 42 ended, however, the border still saw more than 10,000 migrants encounters per day leading up to the expiration date. Afterward, the number of crossings dropped by almost 70%.

In the op-ed, Stack cited "new — and harsher — set of border measures" by the Biden administration as a factor for the sudden drop. One of the measures she cited was the asylum rule prohibiting migrants entering the U.S. without first seeking asylum in another country. But she insisted that concerns about the border priorly were overblown. 

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"Then came the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The term ‘border security’ became popular. The nation’s attention was gripped by the fear of terrorism, and everyone talked about border control. But this was just a phrase; at the border, there was little expectation that true control could ever be established — or was even sincerely desired," Stack wrote. "The border is real, of course, the edge where two nations meet, the manifestation of laws and regulations and paperwork that govern the international movement of humans and things. But Americans have long played it like a game."

Migrants wait for a bus to take them to a processing center after they turned themselves over to US Border Patrol agents after crossing over from Mexico in Fronton, Texas on May 12, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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States like Texas and Florida deployed resources and law enforcement to block migrants from entry. Florida also sued and successfully received a preliminary injunction which temporarily halted the Biden administration’s "parole with conditions" migrant release policy.