Wise statesmen and philosophers — anyone with a modicum of common sense, really — have always understood that strength lies not in diversity but in unity. We are not the Divided States of America. At least we’re not supposed to be. We’re the United States of America. When an enemy attacks us, we don’t endeavor to stand divided. We stand united. “E pluribus unum.” As Ben Franklin warned all the way back in 1754, we must put aside our divisions and come together as one, or else we will die.

For most of our history, America kept immigration in check. We placed strict limits on it. Not because we don’t like immigrants — we like them very much. Some of our best friends and ancestors have been immigrants. But we had always understood, as all wise statesmen have understood, that a country with an unlimited influx of unassimilated foreign people becomes unstable and risks losing its very identity, without which no nation can be any good to anyone. ...

This gets to the very heart of our national identity crisis. America was founded to be “a model of Christian charity.” From the moment that our earliest ancestors boarded the Mayflower — which, by the way, is the name of an excellent new cigar company, Mayflower Cigars, highly recommended — before the Pilgrims ever stepped foot onto Plymouth Rock, America was founded to be a nation with its eyes on Heaven.