Lax border control on the southern border opens the door to almost anyone who wants to enter the U.S. illegally, and according to Governor Rick Perry, that includes terrorists. “Remember the ISIS version of ‘mission creep,’” said the governor last week at the Heritage Foundation’s Border Crisis and New Politics of Immigration event.
According to Derrick Morgan and David Inserra at the Heritage Foundation, 11.4 million people have lived in the United States without authorization since January 2012. After Obama issued the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) memorandum in 2012, the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border has significantly increased. Morgan and Inserra acknowledge that immigration can boost a nation economically and socially but they warn that open borders are dangerous for many reasons, including the threat of global terrorism. “Immigration should be at a pace to allow beneficial assimilation,” they said.
The Heritage event included a panel discussion with National Review editor Rich Lowry, Heritage policy specialist James Carafano, Temple University law professor Jan Ting, and the President and Founder of the polling company, inc./WomanTrend, Kellyanne Conway. They explained how illegal aliens are deliberately going to border control authorities knowing that it is a sure way into the country. Professor Ting said that there are really only two options; we either can have an open border, or we can enforce our immigration policies. As the panel pointed out, Washington seems to believe that there is a third option: open the border and pretend that we have a policy.
Governor Perry called on Washington to act, saying that American action will be decisive, but American inaction will be consequential. While he has seen the crisis unfolding firsthand, the President still refuses to accept Perry’s invitations to see for himself, even when he’s visiting Texas.
Indeed, new laws and immigration reform will be useless if the President does not honor the laws that have already been established.
