Borders

Good fences make good neighbors – 17^th Century Proverb

If you own real estate, it’s a good bet you have it at least partly fenced. New housing developments nearly always come with fencing these days. Maybe you want to keep your animals from wandering off or want to create a safe, private zone for your kids to play. It might even be for your own privacy, or to keep your neighbor’s animals or kids from indiscriminately using your land. In any event, that fence or block wall delimits the boundary of your property. It is a physical statement for others to keep out.

That fence denotes your sovereign right as a property owner to use that ground for your own exclusive purposes. You alone may decide who can enter that ground. Any unwanted intruders can be subject to arrest and removal. Your home is your domain.

Countries too have boundaries. Their borders denote the extent of their sovereign land. They have the right, even duty, to decide who can enter. Unwanted intrusion is called invasion and can rightly be repelled by force. Those entering without proper authorization can and must be expelled – and for the same reason you would have the police expel an intruder on your property – they are unwanted and do not belong there.

In this country, the individual states somehow abrogated the right to determine residence to the federal government. It is up to the federal government to determine suitability for individuals to reside here. As a matter of safety, security, and national well-being, our government has the duty to make every effort to ensure that any person entering the country will not become a burden, commit a crime, or inflict harm on this nation or its citizens. This is the same procedure you probably use when inviting someone into your home.

Those who advocate open borders would have you remove your doors, take down your fences, and let anyone do whatever they like on or in your property. How long do you think your possessions would remain safe? How long before those unwanted guests begin to fence you from your own property? Why should you pay a mortgage and maintain insurance for property you have no control over? How long would it be before total anarchy reigns supreme on the land you own?

In the United States, we have codified into law the requirements for entering this country. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has the responsibility and authority for enforcing and maintaining Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This code clearly defines the qualifications and quotas for every form of entry into this country. These include, reason for visit or stay, health certification, means of return to place of origin, criminal history, and determination of intent to not do harm while here. For long-term residence, the vetting is necessarily deeper and takes longer to make a sound determination of an individual’s suitability for life in this country.

Quotas ensure that immigrants from a single country do not flood into the country and reduce the ability to take in people from another country. Quotas are also necessary to ensure that our citizens are not impacted by people coming here that cannot find jobs and be productive members of our society.

There are no qualifications in Title 8 or any other immigration or visitation policy that would deny entry of an individual based on their religious preference.

Of course, criminals, terrorists, unskilled labor, unemployable people, or undesirables are and should be excluded from entry, and those here illegally should be expelled. You would expect the same for your own property. That is why you have locks on your doors, fences on your property and police to enforce your right to your own property.