Reluctantly I must side with President Trump on his proclamation that illegal immigration into the US is creating a national emergency. And therefore he has the authority and obligation to access funding to prevent risk to our nation if Congress refuses to do so. Reaction to this situation will be the focus of future debates in Congress and ultimately at the Supreme Court as they both define what constitutes a “national crisis.”

Americans who are against building a wall are minimizing a very important fact. It is that 15 million people have entered our country illegally over the past few decades. These individuals are living in America without authorization of the US government. They are criminals regardless of whether they assimilated into our society, obey the law and pay taxes.

Fifteen million people represent 5% of the population of the US. It’s inconceivable that this alone does not rise to the level of a crisis. Many illegals are using services such as educational facilities and health care. In total experts have said that, after payment of taxes, this group costs US taxpayers over $100 billion annually.

The money being allocated to illegals is diverted from legitimate needs of Americans. It puzzles me why those representing downtrodden US citizens are not concerned about this unauthorized and un-appropriated use of taxpayer money. Their constituencies are effectively the victims of past negligence and incompetence relating to US immigration.

If this state of affairs, millions of illegals in our country and billions spent to support them, is not a crisis, I don’t know what is.

Before you start thinking all this is the ranting of a xenophobe, allow me to offer some further personal thoughts.

I think it would be absurd and inhumane to try to round up 15 million illegals and send them back to their countries of origin. This doesn’t mitigate the fact that the group is violating the law. It makes more sense for Americans to encourage Congress to create a path to citizenship for illegals based upon a very precise set of preconditions.

You’ve heard them all before. Illegals must register, without risk of deportation. They must be law-abiding. Their only crime can be living illegally in the US. All criminal offenders should not be able to obtain citizenship or remain in the country. Every one is required to have a Social Security number and pay taxes on their income. Everybody must promise to learn English and do everything possible to assimilate into our society.

There is one more condition that is very important to me, and many other interested Americans. I will not support new immigration policies unless the US ends further illegal immigration. The problem must not be allowed to grow, and we need to use all the resources available to the government to gain complete control of our borders.

This is a tall order. The US must be willing to consider every reasonable tactic including some experimental methods to stem the tide of illegal immigrants. We must do whatever is possible to assist border guards as they protect our homeland.

Given the existence of 15 million illegals, should the government be aggressive to thwart new interlopers? I think yes. Should all types of strategies be considered to stem this crisis? Yes. I’m prepared to pay my fair share to build a wall along with other things such as high tech surveillance.

The amount of money that should be spent, including a barrier, to affect a comprehensive immigration policy is small compared to how much the US has spent in blood and treasure fighting wars that cannot be won and entitlements that are bankrupting the country.

Trump has done a terrible job trying to convince Americans that a wall should be part of a larger response to the border crisis. His incompetence in this effort does not abrogate the fact that a lot of money is being spent on illegals and many of them are part of a growing humanitarian crisis.