For me, the idea of national borders and national sovereignty was first an educational one, learned in school, from elementary through college. I knew there were over 170 (at that time) members of the United Nations, each one with a flag, culture and history.
But the reality was brought home when I first traveled to Europe in 1986. First, a passport was needed, as nations I would visit needed to make sure who was invading their territory. For one country, a visa was required, which said that they generously allowed me to breach their border.
We first touched down ay Great Britain’s Heathrow Airport, where the authorities insisted on matching my picture with the rumpled, sleep-deprived individual standing in front of them wanting to enter the kingdom. After a fascinating round of sightseeing, we embarked on a “luxury” bus and traveled from London to Dover, to catch a ferry to take us over the English Channel to Calais, France. But before we could do that, out came our passports, for the French also insisted that we were properly identified so we could legally enter their realm.
We boarded another bus, and traveled through northern France to Paris and our hotel. Seeing the historical and cultural sites occupied our time in the City of Light, until we departed on an over night train to Munich, in Germany. That trip was interrupted about midnight as we crossed the border from France into German territory — passports were collected, inspected, returned to us and we were allowed to continue on our journey.
Czechoslovakia was next, and it was an interesting experience. Our bus was stopped at the border, and armed Czech soldiers stood at the ready as civilian officials looked over our passports and visas. Grudgingly (or so it seemed at the time) we were allowed to continue on to Prague, with a government bureaucrat on board for our safety. We were forced to submit to a running commentary about how much better their communism was to our capitalism, but most of our group of 30 plus Americans tuned him out.
Czechoslovakia turned into Austria as we continued our tour. Once again, out came the passports, and once again we passed inspection and were permitted entrance into the Austrian nation. Castles and historic places were seen, and the bus rolled on, this time to Italy. At a border crossing in the mountains, we were stopped and Italian authorities demanded to see — our passports.
After visiting Venice, we began the last leg of our Grand Tour by traveling across northern Italy and turning north into Switzerland. Just beyond Lake Como, our passports were scrutinized. We went through the Alps to beautiful Lake Lucerne for a relaxing two days in the mountains. Our final leg was back to Germany to Frankfurt, were the group was to embark for a homeward flight. But — to reenter Germany, passports were demanded and produced for the meticulous Hun.
If any one of us had attempted the Grand Tour without papers, we would be hunted down, arrested, jailed and eventually deported. After all, had we done this we were violating their laws, breaching their sovereign soil, thumbing our noses at them. In the case of Czechoslovakia, we might have been shot. Those nations had the right to limit who entered, and without papers you just did not get in.
Why should the United States be any different? We are a sovereign nation, we have laws and customs which limit who can legally enter the country. Yet we are inundated with the cries of those on the Left of the political spectrum to have open borders. We are urged to look with compassion on those who want to come to America because many are fleeing poverty, oppression and violence in their native land.
As of this writing, more than 7,000 are moving through Mexico, less than 1000 miles from the southern border. These people, many who have heartbreaking stories to tell, have little or no papers telling who they are, and virtually none have even a simple passport. But among them are those who simply want to partake of the largess of the American people, and some (not a majority, but still present in their ranks) who are of the criminal element.
In addition to this caravan, as they are called, another such group is already forming in Honduras. Some interviewed there are just waiting to begin their journey northward to the Promised Land. Few, if any, have legal right to demand entry into the United States. If nothing is done to stop the first “migrants”, where will the madness end?
Why should we even allow any of them to set one foot on American soil? There are guidelines in place for those who wish to immigrate to do so legally, and many have been waiting years to come here. But what happens if we just open the doors and tell all who arrive to just come in? Historically, when groups of foreign invaders come in, the culture of a country invaded is damaged beyond repair, and the nation is changed.
The Angles and Saxons overran the Britons in England, the Normans made French the language of the English nobility for three hundred years, the Goths, Visigoths, Lombards and the Franks conquered the Celts in Gaul and made it “France,” the land of the Franks. They all radically altered life in those areas and made the countries into something they had not been before.
Is this what we want for America? We can accept those coming legally, for those have skills and backgrounds with technological abilities we want and want to assimilate to become Americans. But the caravans from Central America do not contain many, if any, doctors, engineers or such. It is not cruel or insensitive to ask they stay home and improve their own nation. We have enough problems here.