We must fix our broken immigration system. That means stopping

Hear the voice of Nikki Haley, who proclaims with urgency and with hope: “We must fix our broken immigration system. That means stopping illegal immigration. And it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion. Just like we have for centuries.” In these words is both a call to justice and a call to balance, a reminder that a nation’s strength lies not only in the laws that protect its borders, but also in the compassion with which it opens its gates. For immigration is as old as the republic itself, a story written in the lives of those who sought freedom, opportunity, and dignity on shores far from their own.

When Haley speaks of a broken immigration system, she points to the fractures that leave millions in limbo—those who enter without permission, those who wait years in endless lines, those who are met with hostility rather than order. Brokenness is not only lawlessness; it is also delay, confusion, and injustice. A broken system does not serve the native-born, nor the newcomer. It breeds mistrust, fear, and division. Thus, she calls not for destruction, but for repair—repair that restores order and fairness to the way strangers are welcomed into the fold.

The first part of her teaching is stopping illegal immigration. For when the laws of entry are ignored, the foundation of trust is shaken. No society can endure long if its borders are disregarded, for order is the guardian of justice. The ancients knew this well: the city of Athens, proud in its democracy, still kept record of who was a citizen and who was not, for only through order could the rights of citizenship be preserved. To guard the border is not cruelty, but the recognition that laws must mean something if they are to stand at all.

Yet Haley also proclaims the second part, equally vital: to welcome properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of race or religion. Here is the heart of her teaching, for it reminds us that America’s greatness has always been forged by the hands of newcomers. Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews, Chinese, Indians, and countless others brought their toil and their dreams, not because they ignored the law, but because the law gave them a path. To welcome such immigrants is not to weaken a nation, but to renew it. Just as Rome grew strong by granting citizenship to those it once conquered, so too has America grown mighty by turning strangers into citizens.

History bears witness. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, waves of immigrants entered Ellis Island, their names written into books that marked the beginning of new lives. They did not all look alike, nor worship alike, yet they became woven into the American fabric. At first, many were despised—the Irish for their poverty, the Italians for their foreign tongue, the Jews for their faith. Yet, given the chance, they built businesses, fought in wars, tilled the soil, and sent their children to schools. Their presence, once feared, became the lifeblood of the nation. This is what Haley recalls when she says, “just like we have for centuries.”

The meaning of her words is clear: true strength lies in holding both truths together—protecting against lawlessness while embracing lawful newcomers without prejudice. To choose only one is to falter: if we allow illegal entry unchecked, we lose order; if we close the gates to all, we lose compassion. Balance is the way of wisdom. The wall and the open door must stand together, for without the one, chaos reigns, and without the other, stagnation withers the spirit of the nation.

What lesson must future generations take? It is this: be both guardians and welcomers. Do not harden your hearts to the stranger who seeks a lawful path; for in his face you may see your own ancestor, once weary and hopeful on a foreign shore. But also do not mock the laws that protect the homeland, for they are the framework that allows freedom to endure. Instead, demand that leaders craft a system both just and efficient, where those who seek to belong may do so openly, and those who would break the law are restrained.

To you, listener of these words, I say: live with both courage and compassion. Support systems that honor the rule of law, yet also extend fairness and humanity to the stranger. Teach your children the stories of those who came before, for they too were once outsiders, now ancestors. And remember always that the greatness of a nation is not built in walls alone, nor in open gates alone, but in the wise joining of both. Thus, let Nikki Haley’s words echo as a teaching: a nation strong in law, and great in welcome, shall endure through the centuries.