“A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” -President Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States.

Our former president speaks the truth: secure borders are the backbone of a strong, secure nation. We have been especially aware of this truth over the past 10 months under President Biden with thousands of undocumented migrants arriving at our borders daily without so much as a COVID test to allow them to cross our southern border.

In fact, according to the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, in July through August over 421,000 migrants were detained at the US-Mexico border. Many of these migrants presume that President Biden endorses an open border, so they head north. Such border crowding forces overwhelmed authorities to admit some of the migrants. In fact, according to The Hill, “More than 12,000 [Hatian migrants] have been released into the U.S. without mandatory court dates.”

Another real problem is that per US policy, we admit asylum seekers who “have suffered persecution or fear that they will suffer persecution” in their home countries. But how do we confirm such persecution?

Don’t get me wrong: I understand and value the importance of immigration—our country was built on the backs of immigrants, and all of us living here can trace our lineage back to a foreign country in the not-so-distant past, but most have come here legally, hoping to enjoy the American freedoms bestowed upon them by our constitution. Some of our proudest patriots are the legal immigrants who came to this country seeking new opportunities. Have a conversation with almost any one of them and you will see it too.

President Biden has been focused on “Building Back Better,” but at the same time he has allowed our southern border to be crossed by illegal aliens without any sort of background check. According to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, the border is closed to all non-essential travelers. The only travel permitted is travel for medical purposes, attending educational institutions, emergency response or public health purposes, lawful cross-border trade, government or diplomatic travel, and military-related travel.

However, just because there are regulations surrounding who can cross the border and why, doesn’t always mean those rules are followed nor enforced. In fact, this year, when migrants have passed the border, they don't even receive a Coronavirus test when passing through Border Patrol unless they show symptoms. Many may not have the virus, but if we don’t test them, how will we really know? It’s not outside of the realm of possibilities that they have an asymptomatic case of COVID.

To put this more into perspective, when an American citizen travels outside of the country, they have to test negative within three days before departure and within three to five days after their return home. A seven-day quarantine post-international travel also is required, no matter their test results.

Why shouldn’t these same rules apply to migrants crossing our borders? Why are there more regulations on international travel for American citizens leaving the country than there are for some migrants coming in? President Biden is not trying to “Build Back Better,” he is just trying to condone the leftist agenda set for him.

Reagan was right: if we want our country to remain safe and secure, then our political leaders need to make greater efforts to secure our borders and enforce regulations that will do so.