“Never put a scorpion in your pocket”
Last week, I put together an article for The Stream on immigration and the Southern Border that was difficult for me to write. I don’t mean the writing was difficult (though sometimes writing is), but rather, the position that I took in the piece was one that I wrestled with (lots) before I sat down at my desk.
In the piece, which I titled “Never Put a Scorpion in Your Pocket,” I call for a complete closure of the Southern Border until we develop a better system (or any system, really) to sort out who is coming into the country and why.
Calls to close the Southern Border are, I know, a popular “knee-jerk” reaction among many in response to our nation’s dysfunctional immigration system.
I spent many days weighing many factors before I added my voice to the “enough is enough” chorus.
Why?
Well, first, I do understand that we are a nation of immigrants, a mash-up of races and religions from all over the world. My grandmother and her family fled German-occupied Holland during the First World War and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, the place of my birth.
Second, I have been to some twenty-seven countries, often working with poor and displaced people. I know that their desire for a better place to live is as real as their suffering.
The top destination (perhaps better, “asperation”) for the world’s people is the United States, which, with all of its flaws, is still the “shining city” on the hill, a land of tremendous opportunity.
I get it; I really do.
But some really bad people, criminals and terrorists, get it, too, and hide among the poor wretches who cross into our country via the open Southern Border.
Criminals and terrorists come here to commit crime, murder and mayhem (surprise!). The immigrants understand how damning these ne’er-do-wells are to their country; that’s why they leave, and we should understand it, too, for all of our sakes.
It is time to take a pause, close the border, and sort this whole thing out.