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Issues & Insights
Good Fences, Good Neighbors
Posted 11/9/2005

The Border: As Europe's night skies erupt in flames, a leading Republican, worried about what might happen here, thinks the solution to unrestrained illegal immigration can be found in every neighborhood in America.

On the surface, it seems like an odd proposal for a nation that has a statue in the harbor of its largest city welcoming the huddled masses of the world yearning to breathe free, and who had a president telling an evil empire to tear down its walls.

But for the last two weeks on the nightly news we have seen the consequence of simply allowing anyone who wants to come in to immigrate, legally or illegally, especially if you do not have an infinite capacity to assimilate them, and particularly if you have a sizable number who do not want to be assimilated.

Our streets are not on fire. But our border guards are under fire, and every day brings reports of crimes by people who shouldn't be here, of hospitals closing and of school systems straining under the weight of illegal immigration.

We're a nation of immigrants, but we're also a nation of laws. Many come here seeking a better life. But the first duty of a nation is to promote the general welfare of its own citizens â€â€