I pledge allegiance, to the flag . . .

I encountered those peculiar words for the first time at Riverside Elementary School in 1976 as a First Grader who had recently moved to the United States with my family. I quickly learned to pronounce the words, but understanding their meaning took much longer. 

Like Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington, I was born an English subject but chose to become an American. I studied US history in middle and high school, earned a degree in history, and eventually taught American history to 8th and 11th-grade students. 

Despite knowing the significant names and dates, nothing instilled a love for my country in me like spending half my life abroad, including 23 years as a US diplomat in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The uniqueness of American freedom and opportunity is most evident when compared to other nations. 

Like many other Americans who came here legally and became citizens, nothing rankles me more than seeing disrespect, ingratitude, and even homicidal violence from some who have been granted the opportunity to come here — or allowed to remain despite coming illegally. 

You’d figure the least they could do would be to obey our rules and respect our culture and values. 

Watching Columbia University and other supposed elite institutions become hot-beds of radical protest and support for antisemitism and terrorist violence has been painful. It’s bad enough when the ill-informed youth are home-grown, but when foreign students here on visas are leading the charge, it’s too much to take.

So, we shouldn’t – and we don’t have to. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent announcement that he will interpret our visa laws to keep out those who would steal our secrets, undermine our democracy, or obstruct our foreign policy abroad, is cheering news.

He’s suggesting nothing new – our immigration law already contains many ineligibilities both statutory and discretionary, which he can wield. 

All across the developed West, the same crisis is playing out: who gets to decide who comes in, and who stays? Does our citizenship have any value? Do we ask nothing in exchange?

The global Left does not believe in borders. They think anyone, anywhere should be allowed to live where they want. When they get there, the Left believes they should get all the rights of citizens – health care, education, welfare, and even the vote. For them, under no circumstances should a foreigner – invited or not, criminal or not – ever be evicted.

This is a recipe for national suicide, and it’s a choice we should reject.

On Sunday, an Egyptian illegal immigrant attempted to kill several American Jews in Boulder, Colorado by burning them alive.

It appears the man entered the US with a tourist visa in 2022, which would have allowed him to come for six months tops. He overstayed, like maybe half a million other foreigners do every year and then claimed asylum so he wouldn’t be kicked out. He was given a work permit while he waited years for his immigration case to work through the system. 

This kind of “defensive” asylum claim is the easiest ploy for someone, even with no credible case, to remain here. Millions of aliens are waiting in processing backlogs, most of them with cases that don’t qualify. Millions more entered illegally over land and were released by DHS when Joe Biden was president, with the administration encouraging them to all claim asylum. 

As Lora Ries and I argued in a recent Heritage report, it’s time we reformed our asylum and refugee process so that it prioritizes American interests, brings in a finite number of people that we can accommodate and assimilate, and ends the farce of mass economic migration based on fraud.

At the same time, the State Department is right to use the wide discretion they already have under immigration law to more carefully screen those coming in on visas, for whatever purpose. Anyone likely to be coming to foment political unrest should be denied — particularly students, who will stay for years. If visitors or students become undesirable after they get here, they should be sent home. Actively working against American basic values or foreign policy should be a negative factor in applications for legal permanent residence. 

The process should be real, not a rubber stamp. The bar for citizenship should be the highest of all — requiring not just a basic knowledge of civics, English, and history, but a proven love of this country, or at the very least no evinced hatred for it. 

We have enough domestic strife without importing the squabbles of the Middle East and the rest of the world. And though terrorism is the worst case of allowing in, or letting remain, people who harbor ill will towards our country or its people, every week brings examples of Americans robbed, raped, killed by drunk drivers, and even murdered by people who would not have been here if we had properly guarded our borders and enforced our laws.

Just over a year ago, our Heritage Foundation Center for Border Security and Immigration started this visual map showing just a few examples of these preventable crimes. What started as a few spots has turned into a solid mass in some areas – like Massachusetts, whose governor seems to care more about the rights of illegal aliens than her own voters. 

No foreign national has a right to a US visa. Once they arrive, each visitor must do what he said he was coming here to do, and obey our laws. Some will learn to value this country enough to want to become Americans. Many of these will find a way, and they are welcome. 

But to preserve this unique society so many still want to join, we need to start according our country the singular value it deserves.

Simon Hankinson is a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center.