Immigration policies widely derided as “populist” are actually quite popular. What “erodes our democracy” is not Trump’s ban — however misguided — but criminalizing the policy preferences of a democratically elected president.

Today, many on the left seem to believe that the very concept of borders is immoral and should not exist. Meanwhile, in the debate over so-called sanctuary cities, activists egg on municipalities to defy federal immigration officials in open defiance of the rule of law.

Unable to achieve a compromise that would grant legal status to the 11 million people currently residing in the country illegally, some now advocate piecemeal policies that would eliminate any meaningful distinctions between citizens and noncitizens. Last year, the City Council in College Park, Md., barely voted down an initiative to grant noncitizens the right to vote in local elections. A commentator on NBCNews.com goes a step further, arguing that all immigrants be given the vote in elections at every level.