We’re out of whack on borders

President Trump’s proposed travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries and a California bill trying to help immigrants reflects how out of whack our society is when it comes to protecting our borders.
I have sailed off the coast of Yemen toward the Suez Canal for three years in a row. There were military personnel onboard carrying weapons and razor wire on the railings. Yemen is not a safe country.
Egypt is not a safe place because terrorists know the country’s prime source of income is from tourists. Thus, a 16-year-old girl is indoctrinated in the belief that she will go to the equivalent of heaven by pulling her bomb-loaded car up to a tourist bus and killing everybody. A trip to Egypt’s Karnak Temple was with armed military personnel and stops at military checkpoints along the way.
Egypt’s second source of income is from the Suez Canal. Military protection abounds. Most of the east side is desert, with lonely guards in the equivalent of outhouses.
Take a trip to Mexico, and go inland away from the upscale tourist beaches. Poverty abounds. Hire a local big man to walk with and protect you. Do not go out at night.
More and more countries are requiring visitors to acquire visas to enter their country. Vietnam has done so to generate income and limit access to their border. But in America we have freedom of religion, which allows everyone access, and the belief that the world should “send us your masses.”
Clarence Spicer
Canonsburg