Some honest talk about immigration

OPINION:

The phrase “climate change denier” has wormed its way into the modern lexicon to shame those who have a different view of the science supporting, or not, the idea that the world is in danger of burning up in weeks, months or years (they can’t seem to decide on the timing).

There is another form of denial that one can clearly see. It lies in the assertion that our southern border is secure. With pictures showing — and Border Patrol agents confirming — that tens of thousands of migrants are crossing into the U.S. every day without authorization, it is a lie to say the border is secure.

Sometimes it takes a person from outside the country to wake us up to the threats we face. Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn did that in a 1978 Harvard commencement speech, in which he warned that the West suffered from “a decline in courage.” The left hated the speech, but he was right in his indictment.

Last week, British Home Secretary Suella Braverman delivered remarks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. She warned of the dangers of uncontrolled immigration without assimilation that now threatens the United States, the United Kingdom and other prosperous nations. She called it “an existential challenge for the political and cultural institutions of the West,” adding that “it’s a basic rule of history that nations which cannot defend their borders will not long survive.”

Ms. Braverman noted that the majority of migrants are motivated by economic incentives, not persecution in their home countries. That, she said, does not fit the international definition of “refugee.”

“A nation-state is one of humanity’s great civilizing forces,” she said. “It creates a shared identity and a shared purpose. And that does not need to have a racial component. Typically it binds people of different racial backgrounds together.”

She also said that a spirit of togetherness and unity produces patriotism, heroism and kindness: “It is the belief that we have specific obligations to others, precisely because they are our fellow countrymen.”

Then came a statement that should be obvious to all but the deniers: “Uncontrolled immigration, inadequate integration and a misguided dogma of multiculturalism have proven a toxic combination for Europe over the past few decades.” She referenced a 2010 speech by then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel in which Ms. Merkel admitted that German multiculturalism had utterly failed.

Failure is never a reason for some to change their ideologies.

Noting that she herself is a child of immigrants, Ms. Braverman said that “there has been more migration to the U.K. and Europe in the last 25 years than in all the time that went before. It has been too much too quick, with too little thought given to integration and the impact on social cohesion.”

The costs are staggering in the U.K. and U.S. and cannot be sustained as even more come. “Seeking asylum and seeking better economic prospects are not the same thing,” Ms. Braverman said. “Seeking refuge in the first country you reach, or shopping around for your preferred destination, are not the same thing. Most are simply economic migrants, gaming the asylum system to their advantage.”

As with uncontrolled crime, an uncontrolled border is an invitation for more of the same. The solution is not difficult: Finish the border wall and deport all but legitimate asylum-seekers who fled their home country because of political or religious persecution.

The latest stopgap government funding bill passed late Saturday night contains no money for border security. What does that tell you?

Our constitutional republic is fragile and must be renewed by each generation. We are unlikely to get a second chance.

Those who deny there is a problem and are fine with an open border likely have motives beyond compassion. These might include a visceral hatred of the U.S. and a desire to see our nation, in the words of President Biden and former President Barack Obama, “fundamentally transformed.”

• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).