by Brian Lonergan
By almost any significant metric, this is not America’s finest hour. We do not appear to be respected or feared economically, militarily, or in any other way by rival nations. Americans do not feel confident about the future, and we are seemingly more polarized along partisan lines than ever before.
Adding to our collective sense of dread is the sight of our nation’s geographic integrity slipping away. Almost daily we see untold numbers of foreign nationals trampling what used to be our southern border, demanding rights and privileges that previously were reserved for citizens and legal residents.
Rather than protect our nation’s sovereignty, the temporary caretakers of the executive branch are actively encouraging its decline. At this point, a credible case can be made that this is not a well-intentioned asylum program spun out of control, but every bit the invasion the images and data tell us it is.
Saying the “I-word” today seems to trigger those who barely follow the news as well as dogmatic anti-borders activists. “It’s not an armed force, so it can’t be an invasion!” is the most common retort.
A Google definition search of the word “invasion” produces three meanings, only one of which refers to an armed force. The others refer to “an incursion by a large number of people or things into a place or sphere of activity,” and “an unwelcome intrusion into another’s domain.”
Either definition seems to fit our current predicament.
In the time since Joe Biden took the oath of office, at least 5.5 million foreign nationals have illegally entered our country. Very few of them will likely ever leave. Sanctuary politicians can recite bumper sticker slogans like “immigrants make our communities stronger,” but the $150 billion price tag for illegal immigration is a net loss for the country. That doesn’t even take into consideration the losses we will experience in terms of higher crime, increased competition for jobs, lower wages, and increasing housing costs, to name just a few.
As word has spread about America’s current abandonment of border security, the rest of the world has taken notice. As a result, more than one-third of those apprehended by the Border Patrol at the Southwest border in the first three months of the last fiscal year were from countries outside Mexico and the Northern Triangle.
At a time when America seems more vulnerable than ever, a growing number of border crossers are coming from countries that either are competitors or sworn enemies of the United States. This past fiscal year, a record 98 illegal aliens on the terror watch list were able to enter the United States illegally. Additionally, there has been a 600 percent increase in illegal aliens who come from countries with thriving terrorist networks.
The Border Patrol is also reporting that 1,667 Chinese nationals have been apprehended at the southern border, and 91 percent of them are single adults. Fox News recently acquired video of a group of well-dressed Chinese citizens walking casually toward the U.S.-Mexico border. After the Chinese spy balloon incident, isn’t anyone entrusted with our national security concerned about these developments?
Further evidence of an invasion is the fact that our other land border is now being penetrated regularly. In the border area between New York state and Canada, local law enforcement in New York is reporting a tenfold increase since last year in the number of people trying to enter illegally from the north. Most of those coming across are Mexican nationals who are able to travel to Canada without visas before crossing illegally into the United States.
Those attempting to enter illegally may have their own individual stories and reasons for their actions, but in military parlance this is what’s known as a pincer movement. With two porous land borders to defend, as well as increased attempts at illegal entry by sea, American sovereignty is now more conceptual than real.
There is a straightforward solution to this problem: Americans need to demand more from their government officials. Ignore the virtue signaling, shaming language, and other manipulation tactics, and insist you will only support those who firmly support immigration enforcement, both at the borders and the nation’s interior. If we don’t take a stand now, there may not be much of a country to defend later.
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Brian Lonergan is an adjunct fellow of the Center for American Greatness and director of communications at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, and co-host of IRLI’s “No Border, No Country” podcast.
