The Locked Door

I saw this analogy the other day and really liked it.  This is just my effort to expand on it, some.

At night, we lock our doors.  At our house there are two locks on the front exterior door, two locks on the interior back door, and three on the back exterior door.

Some would say we are well protected.

The question I saw that prompted this post asked this - why do we lock our doors?  Because we hate the world outside?  Or because we love the ones inside?

We lock ourselves in at night to protect - protect our very beings, protect our loved ones, protect the things that make our house our home.

But why do we have to lock the doors at all?  Talk to anyone a generation, or two, older than you and they are quick to point out they grew up without ever locking a door - day or night.  We have to lock our doors because somewhere in time people started to do bad things.

Things like stealing, rape, murder.

So we lock ourselves in and hope that helps keep us safe.

If someone unexpectedly rings your doorbell during the day what do you do?  Do you throw it wide open and welcome whomever is there into your home?  Or do you look through the peephole, or out the window to see who it is?  Do you call through the door "who is it?"  Most of us will do something to try and identify the person if we were not expecting a visitor.

What if you call through the door and the person responds "UPS man.  I have a package.
Signature required."   You don't necessarily remember ordering anything.  Maybe someone sent you a gift? At that point do you open the door? Or do you look and see if he is wearing a brown uniform and there is a big brown truck parked in front of your house.

What if he says "UPS man.  I have a package. Signature required." but when you look outside you see a FedEx truck.  Or a beat up cargo van and the person is not dressed as you expected.    You can tell him to just leave the package, sure.  Slide the signature slip in the mailslot or just refuse the package. But in my little scenario here let's take it one step further.  You call the local UPS dispatch and ask if they have a driver in your neighborhood.  And if so, is he dressed like a pizza delivery man?

My point is you will go to, sometimes, great lengths before just opening your door to a stranger.

If the UPS dispatch confirms your worst fears, then you call the police.  But what if they refuse to answer your question?  What if they simply won't give you the information you need?  How can you make an informed decision about whether or not to open the door to this stranger.

You know where I'm headed with this.

Lately, much has been said about the Trump Travel Ban.  Not all of it accurate.  Some of it sensationalized - depending on which major news outlet you watch.  Celebrities cry out for justice for an unfair stance for innocent people.  Protests ensued across this nation.  Oh the inhumanity!

I read most of the original Executive Order this morning.   I read it on the White House's website, not someone else's interpretation of it.

Excepts below:

Section 1. Purpose. The visa-issuance process plays a crucial role in detecting individuals with terrorist ties and stopping them from entering the United States. Perhaps in no instance was that more apparent than the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when State Department policy prevented consular officers from properly scrutinizing the visa applications of several of the 19 foreign nationals who went on to murder nearly 3,000 Americans. And while the visa-issuance process was reviewed and amended after the September 11 attacks to better detect would-be terrorists from receiving visas, these measures did not stop attacks by foreign nationals who were admitted to the United States.

Numerous foreign-born individuals have been convicted or implicated in terrorism-related crimes since September 11, 2001, including foreign nationals who entered the United States after receiving visitor, student, or employment visas, or who entered through the United States refugee resettlement program. Deteriorating conditions in certain countries due to war, strife, disaster, and civil unrest increase the likelihood that terrorists will use any means possible to enter the United States. The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those approved for admission do not intend to harm Americans and that they have no ties to terrorism.

In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles. The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law. In addition, the United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred (including “honor” killings, other forms of violence against women, or the persecution of those who practice religions different from their own) or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.

In essence, our President put a lock on the front door to the United States of America.

We used to have more freedom to come and go, Much like our grandparents slept with unlocked doors, travel around the world was much much simpler before September 11, 2001.

Then people came in and did bad things. Nineteen people to be exact.

They took advantage of our open policies.

And it continued - the Boston Marathon; an Orlando night club; San Bernardino. Terrorists acts committed by those that have different beliefs that those Americans hold true - freedoms that we enjoy. Please notice that in that section of Purpose no specific persons, religions, nationalities, or any other identifiers were listed. Just anyone wishing to commit acts related to bigotry or hatred. How is that a bad thing?

  (a) The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Director of National Intelligence, shall immediately conduct a review to determine the information needed from any country to adjudicate any visa, admission, or other benefit under the INA (adjudications) in order to determine that the individual seeking the benefit is who the individual claims to be and is not a security or public-safety threat.

Much like looking out the window or through the peephole or calling UPS dispatch in my example, our country is charged with gathering information on those that wish to come in so that we can ensure our own safety. Because without adequate information no reasonable conclusion can be reached.

 I hereby proclaim that the immigrant and nonimmigrant entry into the United States of aliens from countries referred to in section 217(a)(12) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. 1187(a)(12), would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and I hereby suspend entry into the United States, as immigrants and nonimmigrants, of such persons for 90 days from the date of this order (excluding those foreign nationals traveling on diplomatic visas, North Atlantic Treaty Organization visas, C-2 visas for travel to the United Nations, and G-1, G-2, G-3, and G-4 visas).

Our President asked for three months. Three months only. Seven countries are listed in the document. Only seven. And those seven are like the UPS dispatcher that wouldn't answer the simplest of questions in my scenario. If they can't tell us what we need to know, then their people don't get to come in. Otherwise, that would be like opening the front door to a complete stranger and then wondering why they are carrying off your big screen television with a knife held to your throat.

To watch the news you would think that a giant dome descended over our country on the day of the signing of this Order with no one getting in our out. Not true.

I'm not going to debate on the President's actions as a matter of principle. He saw a need and he took action, as was within the right of his office. I have no problem in the world with that. There will always be those that say "He should have done this. He could handled it that way. He didn't do it the way I would have done it. Why did he say this?"

Can't we all say that every day about someone and something? No one will ever make everyone happy. It just won't happen.

My point is that the United States of America is our home, just like our house in Natchez is mine and Billy's home. A subset of the greater whole. And just like we protect our structure in that subset it is imperative that we all do all we can to protect our greater home.

Whether or not you voted for President Trump; whether or not you've changed your mind one way or the other about him; whether or not you like him at all or anything about him, he is the President and one of his duties is to protect this country. I think he did that with this order.

I wish people could put aside their differences. I've always said we are a nation during things like the Olympics - us against the world. Why can we not assume a similar stance when it comes to our own protection and say, collectively, tell us what we need to know to come in, or you can just stay outside?

Leave your package on the porch. I can stay in where it's safe.