One of the most devious and deceptive elements of the Leftmedia’s reporting on illegal immigration in the U.S. is the conflation of illegal and legal immigration, as if they were merely a distinction without a difference.

Of course, the distinction is monumental. It’s the difference between chaos and order. A society that eschews law and order in the name of “justice” has embraced the lie that people are basically good and would get along just fine but for the presence of laws.

The historical record has long demonstrated this truth. The absence of government is not a utopia; if anything, it’s more akin to hell.

The development of nation-states was an improvement over the tribalism that preceded them, offering greater protection and prosperity to a larger population across a wider region. Yet the question of who is included as a subject or citizen of a particular nation-state is a fundamental and necessary principle for providing the aforementioned protection and prosperity of the governed. Ergo, the creation of laws surrounding citizenship and immigration.

In the modern era, the U.S. has famously had one of the most welcoming immigration policies, allowing people from all over the world to immigrate and become citizens. Legally speaking, an American is identified by either their birth heritage or naturalization.

The U.S. also generously permits millions of noncitizens to reside and work in America, provided they do so legally.

However, for the Leftmedia, this is not enough. When President Donald Trump enacted his immigration enforcement policy, which was, put simply, a commitment to enforce our nation’s existing immigration laws, the Leftmedia cried foul.

Thanks to the Biden administration’s open border malfeasance, millions of illegal aliens flocked into the U.S. When public outrage grew over the near-unchecked mass influx of humanity into America’s cities and neighborhoods, the Biden administration, rather than actually enforce immigration laws, played what amounted to semantic games with legal consequences.

For example, the Biden administration expanded the parameters for what qualified as a legitimate asylum request in order to allow illegal aliens to “legally” remain in the U.S.

Such malfeasance has been stopped under Trump. But predictably, when the Trump administration fixes long-running abuses of our immigration system, the Leftmedia claims the administration is anti-immigrant. Once again, the legal-versus-illegal conflation game is at play.

The Washington Post reports, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Friday that most applicants will need to return to their countries of origin to apply for permanent residency, upending a decades-old legal practice that allowed immigrants to apply for a green card from within the United States.”

The new policy aims to have potential immigrants apply for legal residency before moving to the U.S. As immigration lawyer Jeff Joseph bemoans, “This is another method of putting cogs in the wheel to try and shut down legal immigration.”

He might have a legitimate argument if it hadn’t been for the flood of illegal immigration.

The fact of the matter is that the Trump administration has rightfully placed the interests and concerns of American citizens over those of noncitizens. For far too long, the federal government and lawmakers have downplayed and ignored the problem to the detriment of American citizens.

Americans are brow-beaten by the Leftmedia for raising objections to unchecked and illegal immigration as if they were objecting to legal immigration.

The Trump administration’s change to the green card application policy is an effort to address a serious problem that has long gotten out of hand. Too many people have been allowed to break our immigration laws and then seek “legal” protection to remain. This abuse must be ended.

The Post’s editorial board notes, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ‘has already started asking some applicants why they did not leave the United States and return home to apply for a green card,’ The Post reported on Wednesday. ‘Some are also being asked why they didn’t return home when their visas expired, or if there is anything preventing them from applying through a consulate.’”

Those are not bad nor unreasonable questions. Indeed, as USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler explained, “Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over.” He noted that only under certain “extraordinary” circumstances would an individual be exempt from this standard.

It is interesting that the Leftmedia expresses little objection to other countries enforcing similar immigration laws because they make perfect sense. Yet when it comes to the U.S., the narrative has become that of open-borders absolutism — that America has no legitimate right to limit or keep people out of our country if our government so determines.

Immigration is not a right, but a privilege. But the Leftmedia takes America, the most generous nation on immigration, to task because the Trump administration dares to uphold our immigration laws and look out for the interests and needs of American citizens first and foremost.