Illegal immigration tops 10,000 per day from Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe. It is almost certain that some carry infectious diseases like drug-resistant tuberculosis or malaria. We just came through Covid-19. What sane person would risk another outbreak, this one caused by ourselves?

When my mother’s family arrived from Europe over a century ago, they underwent health inspections. One of the children had a red eye, and they were held at Ellis Island until it was certain he did not have trachoma, a serious contagious disease. A century ago the government knew it had an obligation to protect its citizens. It appears to have forgotten. Then in what sense is it still our government, rather than just the government?

Loyalty is like an electric current. It goes up, but then it must come down again, or the circuit is broken and the lights go out.