If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want a glass of milk. And if you tell a country that its immigration laws are optional, you’re going to have a problem.
It starts, as these things always do, with a wink and a nod. A decision to “look the other way.” A promise that compassion requires flexibility. A shrug at the law because enforcing it might make someone uncomfortable—or worse, unpopular.
But laws don’t work like that. They’re either laws or they’re suggestions. And when you treat immigration law like a suggestion, everything downstream begins to rot.
First, you disrespect the border. Not tighten it. Not reform it. Just quietly abandon enforcement. You say words like “asylum” and “equity,” and you let record numbers of people pour into the country with no meaningful vetting.
Among them—this is not conjecture, it’s documented—are violent criminals with histories that would have barred them from entry under any sane system.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want more.
If you give criminal organizations an open border, they’re going to send more criminals. And they did. Gang members. Repeat offenders. People already wanted in other countries. The numbers aren’t disputed; the outcomes are.
Now you’ve got a second problem. These people need housing, food, healthcare, and schooling. Cities and states that loudly declared themselves “sanctuaries” suddenly discover that virtue is expensive. So what do they do?
They approve fraud.
Not accidentally. Not unknowingly. They approve billing schemes that rip off taxpayers—phony daycare invoices, ghost students, inflated social service claims. Entire cottage industries spring up around exploiting emergency funding, because the oversight is lax and the political incentive is to keep the pipeline flowing.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a straw.
Governors and mayors now face a dilemma. Federal law requires cooperation with lawful removal. But they don’t like that law. It doesn’t poll well with their base. So they defy it. Publicly. Loudly. They announce that they will not comply. They will not assist. They will obstruct.
And when fraud is discovered—because it always is—they don’t shut it down. They look the other way. Why? Because shutting it down admits the system is broken. And broken systems don’t win reelection campaigns.
So the fraud continues. The criminals remain. The costs balloon. And the rule of law erodes further.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to want the whole jar.
Next comes the rhetoric. Party leaders and elected officials begin fanning the flames. They don’t just oppose enforcement; they demonize it. They suggest—sometimes explicitly—that their constituents should resist lawful authority carrying out lawful duties. Federal agents become “invaders.” Lawful removals become “kidnappings.” The language escalates because outrage mobilizes voters.
Those same elected officials then leave dangerous criminal aliens on the streets. Not because they don’t know who they are—but because acknowledging the danger would force action. And action would expose the lie that this was ever about compassion.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Activists need fuel. Protests need bodies. So money flows—sometimes through nonprofits, sometimes through “community partners,” sometimes through taxpayer- funded grants that just happen to support “organizing.” People are paid to show up. Paid to chant. Paid to block roads. Paid to resist.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for dessert.
Resistance turns violent. Vehicles become weapons. Property is destroyed. Police are injured. And eventually—inevitably—someone shows up with a gun. Not hypothetically. Historically. A firearm, two high-capacity magazines, and the delusion that they are the hero of the story.
And then people die.
Protestors who were told they were “fighting fascism.” Officers who were told to stand down until it was too late. Innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of a movement that began with “just be kind” and ended with blood on the pavement.
At that point, the same elected officials issue statements. They call for calm. They disavow violence. They insist this isn’t what they meant.
But it is what they built.
Because if you give a mouse a cookie—and then another—and then another—you don’t get surprised when he eats the house.
You cannot encourage lawlessness, excuse fraud, defy federal authority, bankroll agitation, and glorify resistance—and then act shocked when the system collapses into chaos.
You told people the law didn’t matter.
You told criminals they could stay.
You told activists to resist.
You’re going to have a problem.
And this time, it won’t be solved with milk.
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