Back during the 2016 presidential contest, Republican standard-bearer, Donald J. Trump, vowed to stop the massive waves of border crossing by undocumented migrants. At that time, Trump reduced his border control strategy to a mantra — Build A Wall. The notion of building said Wall was ridiculed and undermined by detractors asking questions about the effectiveness and cost of building said Wall. Could said Wall effectively stop the masses of desperate people from just walking into what they viewed as the Promised Land? The Wall was a symbolic statement that we were closing our borders to undocumented migrants. Scenes of exhausted migrants carrying meager belongings on their backs and pulling children behind them were heart wrenching to see. It appears we were being unnecessarily heartless and mean treating such desperate people so coldly.

Yet, there is a pragmatic case to be made for border control. First, many migrants who arrived in this country did follow the process of naturalization. These early arrivals were incensed that other later migrants skipped the steps that they had to follow. Their resentment is understandable. However, what all sides on this issue agree upon is that our immigration process is antiquated and broken.

Still, immigration control is a winning issue for the current Republican Party. A “winning issue”? How can that be, you might ask? Well, the way the immigration issue is being used by the current administration allows them to target certain groups like Brown and Black people. There is no visible outrage at the millions of Irish and Russian undocumented — who don’t worry about ICE dragging them out of their homes and places of employment. What about the white South Africans who are invited into America by the current POTUS, claiming they were victims of so-called reverse racism — after decades of benefiting from a callous system of apartheid. For the record, the racist Afrikaners modeled their apartheid after America’s system of “Jim Crow” racial discrimination.

Why refer to the countries of origin for Black and Brown people as “shithole” countries; why denigrate Black and Brown naturalized citizens as “garbage” or savages that eat domestic pets?  Why? The answer is glaringly obvious. The current administration views America as a white nation. Given live birth projections, the possibility of white people becoming a minority group is real. So, what to do?

Well, the current POTUS and his enablers have figured out a way to not only (1) Stop the massive flow of undocumented people crossing the border, (2) reinforce racial stereotypes in our society, and (3) declare ‘war’ on their political opposition with a glitzy show of law enforcement and military presence on the main streets of America. This racial ideology does not bode well for our citizens or our country.

Well now, back to the Trojan Horse. It should be, but is not, recognized that the Immigration Issue is the mountain that the current occupants of the Executive branch have chosen to conquer or die on. “We The People” are being viewed and treated as “Y’all the Chumps.” Come on my fellow Americans, it’s time to wake up from our “sleepless slumber.”  Let’s remember what Benjamin Franklin pointedly said, “Hang together or hang separately!” Wake up and resist this evil mind meld. Done the right way, immigrants will continue to bring a fresh perspective and energy to our country. The reality is that a person’s skin color does not communicate anything more than their skin color. Skin color does not reveal character, determination or skill set. Individually and societally, we’re too old to keep falling for this divisive racism crap.

Regardless of the way we were taught, we’ve had enough interaction with each other to know that racism is a canard. It is a red herring, and a tool used to keep us divided and at each other’s throats — while the uncomfortably rich and parasitic politicians use race as their go to strategy to maintain power. Race — in this case immigrants — is their Trojan Horse to ram through many other regressive policies.  As Bob Marley, the great reggae performer and philosopher once said, “Free yourself from mental slavery!” My fellow Americans, we are better than what we’re currently showing the world.