A few years ago, I traveled to New York City and visited Ellis Island. This gave me a view of what the government process used to be for allowing immigrants into the USA. Immigrants would actually be screened by doctors for signs of disease while in line and separated, if necessary, for further diagnosis and quarantined in another building nearby to heal before entry into the city. They would go before a board to be asked questions about why they wanted entry, if they had a family member to stay with, and if they had a prospective job to support themselves. People were actually turned away and sent back to their countries of origin depending on how they answered these questions. This was not about racism.

Today, we need a wall on the Southern border because, unlike people who went through the process on Ellis Island, many are bypassing the screening process by sneaking into our country. America is a very generous nation when it comes to allowing people from other countries to visit or live here, but the federal government’s main job is to protect its citizens from harm. Drugs, violent criminals and terrorists need to be prevented from coming in. One of the reasons our economy is suffering today is because so many people are dependent on government assistance. Continually allowing more unscreened immigrants in our country could increase this dependence. In the end, this is not what the American dream is supposed to be about.