Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) has a very interesting reason as to why he is opposed to building a fence along the US southern border:
We are all connected. We can't just build a wall or a fence and say no more. This is America. Our doors are open. #AskDems
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) July 15, 2014
That’s a nice sentiment, and to a certain extent, he’s right. But is he really suggesting that we jettison US laws and customs, and just let everyone in, because "we are all connected"? Lewis is conflating two separate processes here: There is legal immigration -- the process by which those who want to come to this country lawfully follow the proper legal channels and pay the requisite fees, as broken and expensive as they might be -- and there is illegal immigration, the process by which foreign nationals cut the line in front of those who've patiently waited their turn.
Certainly, I wholeheartedly agree that “our doors are open” -- and should be. But only to those who follow the rule of law and respect our immigration policies.
Parting thought: In Lewis’ utopian paradise, where will all these illegal immigrants stay once the border becomes even more porous than it already is? Will the congressman himself agree to host them? How will we shelter and feed them all? How will this affect our national security interests? In other words, an open border policy is an idealistic and impractical pipe dream ostensibly designed to make our country "better." But here in the real world, it raises all sorts of complications that Democrats clearly haven’t even begun to think about.
No one disputes that we need to overhaul and reform our broken immigration system. But opening the border to anyone and everyone just because "we are all connected" is exactly the wrong approach. It simply costs taxpayers way too much.