I admire Will’s charitable inclination. It shows a fundamental decency that has been lacking in some of the public reaction. It is strong evidence of a kind heart in response to those who, in some instances are fleeing truly life-threatening circumstances.

But it goes way too far. Its generosity is flawed by a lack of basic understanding of the dimensions of the issues. It lacks the normal prudence of Will’s conservative principles.

It shows an American tendency that Will himself lamented 29 years ago, when he wrote of the “constricted political imagination natural in a sheltered, liberal nation to which history has been kind”, where leaders are “apt to underestimate the terrible dynamic” that confronts them.