admin
Rob Finnerty didn’t mince words this week when he pushed back against the predictable leftist media narrative that insists Somali immigrants are somehow woven into the fabric of American history. He pointed out the obvious: large-scale Somali migration to the United States is a recent phenomenon, not some centuries-old story the left can use to guilt Americans into silence.
The facts back him up — the biggest waves of Somali refugees came in the 1990s and after the collapse of Somalia’s government, with resettlement programs and refugee flows concentrated in the last few decades rather than across American history. Observers and local histories show Somali communities in places like Minnesota grew rapidly only in the modern era, which makes claims that this is part of “long-standing history” a facile and misleading talking point.
What trouble me is how willing our mainstream and left-leaning outlets are to turn complicated migration patterns into moral cudgels aimed at shutting down debate. When media narratives flatten nuance and insist that every recent immigrant group must be treated as if they belong to a mythic American past, they abandon honest journalism and instead peddle virtue signaling. That kind of storytelling excuses poor integration and policy failures while projecting moral superiority.
There are real policy consequences to this sloppy storytelling. Republican lawmakers and conservative commentators have highlighted problems tied to rapid resettlement — from strains on welfare systems to failures of assimilation in certain pockets — and those concerns are dismissed or smeared as bigotry instead of addressed. Voices warning about abuse of public programs and cultural friction have been amplified on conservative outlets, reflecting a frustration many taxpayers feel about accountability.
Patriotism means insisting on law, order, and a sensible immigration system that rewards assimilation and contribution rather than automatic largesse. The debate should focus on how to welcome newcomers who adopt American values and become self-reliant, not on rewriting history to silence critics or to paper over the real costs of unchecked resettlement. Sound policy starts with clear-eyed facts about when and how migration happened.
Rob Finnerty’s critique is more than cable theatrics; it’s a reminder that conservatism still asks the tough questions others will not. If the left insists on framing every recent immigrant population as sacrosanct and beyond scrutiny, then honest journalists and citizens must push back and demand policies that put Americans first.
America is a nation defined by assimilation and shared civic values, not by convenient historical narratives manufactured to fit a political agenda. Conservatives will keep insisting that immigration be lawful, that newcomers integrate, and that public resources be protected for those who earned them — because defending the country means defending the facts first.
