The Times story makes it look as though Trump’s dark rhetoric, comments about radical Islam and executive order restricting immigration from six countries with major terrorism problems are creating woe and desperation for nice people the US should find a spot for. Some of the migrants are from places like Yemen and Turkey.

But if, as the Times also seems to think, Canada is a haven for minorities and immigrants, especially Muslims, aren’t these people better off up north? If the Times is really worried about an epidemic of hate crimes and Islamophobia in the US, shouldn’t the tone of its coverage be celebratory rather than mournful? Shouldn’t it be singing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” as these neo-Von Trapps escape the clutches of Trumpofascism?

Mind you, I’m pro-immigrant myself. I’d like to see America welcome millions more immigrants — legal ones. My immigration policy, though, is informed by Jerry Seinfeld’s thoughts on why a preference for the underclass is pretty dumb: “‘Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . .’ I mean, why don’t we just say, ‘Give us the unhappy, the sad, the slow, the ugly, people that can’t drive’ . . . in other words any dysfunctional defective slob that you can somehow cattle prod onto a wagon, send them over, we want ’em.”…

Canada can pursue an even more open path, if it wants. But do Canadians have as much willingness to take on the Middle East’s problems as advertised? My guess is that pretty soon it’s going to be a lot harder to sneak into Canada from Champlain, NY.