Many things divide Americans. But most polarizing is the reality that some Americans, mostly conservative, believe in the Rule of Law. Other Americans, mostly progressive, also believe in the Rule of Law — but only if it aligns with their political agenda. Nothing reveals the divide better than the progressive effort to champion illegal immigration and an open-to-all asylum system, while virtually ignoring immigrants who play by the rules.

If a picture of Keith Ellison, deputy chairman of the Democrat National Committee (DNC), taken during the May Day parade in Minneapolis doesn’t end up in ads run by every GOP politician running in November, Republicans are brain-dead. It features Ellison wearing a T-shirt with the words “Yo No Creo En Fronteras” emblazoned on the front.

Translation? “I do not believe in borders.”

In a sane nation, a prominent member of a national party advocating for the end of national sovereignty — and by extension, the Constitution itself — would be committing career suicide. In this one, Ellison is joined by the likes of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was so incensed about a raid conducted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in April that he sent the agency a “cease and desist” letter.

Cease and desist doing what? In a statement detailing the arrest of 225 illegals during a six-day period that month, ICE revealed that “more than 180 were convicted criminals or had criminal charges pending, more than 80 had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States or had been previously removed from the United States and returned illegally. Several had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as child sex crimes, weapons charges, and assault, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.”

Cuomo’s response? The letter sent to acting ICE Director Thomas Homan stated that ICE agents “have become increasingly reckless and reflect a serious disregard for the rule of law.” Cuomo further asserted that if all illegal immigrants working on New York farms were arrested, it would engender a cut of more than $1.37 billion in the state’s agricultural industry production.

It might also engender a cut in the state’s $16.9 billion in welfare spending — second highest in the nation — as well as a cut in the murderous spree conducted by the MS-13 gang-bangers responsible for at least 30 deaths on Long Island alone.

Undaunted by such inconvenient realities, Cuomo has signed an executive order prohibiting the arrest of any illegal immigrants in state buildings without a warrant, and has announced plans to add another $10 million in taxpayer outlays to a legal defense fund for illegals who get arrested.

Actress Cynthia Nixon, running to the left of Cuomo for the state’s gubernatorial nomination, illuminates the essence of progressive arrogance. “These attacks on immigrants by Donald Trump’s ICE agents don’t reflect American values, and they don’t reflect New York’s values,” she asserted.

Not immigrants, Ms. Nixon. Illegal immigrants. Moreover, there is no “value” whatsoever in ideologically based, selective law enforcement — other than the progressive lust for unassailable power.

Amidst these contemptible machinations, genuine American values are being obscured. “America’s most forgotten men and women may be the legal immigrants who acquire their visas, scale no barriers, and patiently await their green cards and citizenship ceremonies,” writes columnist Deroy Murdock. “Amid the raging DACA debates, the fugitive-city outrages, and [the infamous] Honduran-caravan epic at the San Diego–Tijuana border, these overlooked individuals ring America’s doorbell rather than pry open the back entrance.”

Legal immigrants are not forgotten. They are marginalized by a Democrat-Media Complex that knows such people represent a mortal threat to The Narrative™ — a narrative that requires the deliberate conflation of “legal” and “illegal” immigrant, because absent the critical distinction, progressive assertions that Americans who disagree with their agenda are racist, bigoted, xenophobic and nativist ring exceedingly hollow.

Without that conflation, Americans would be constantly reminded of the stark difference between law-abiding and respectful people requesting entry and the activist-abetted, often lawless arrogance of those demanding it.

Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) senior researcher Nayla Rush, who legally emigrated from Lebanon and endured the costs and legal requirements associated with doing so, is taken aback by the attitude of the Central American caravaners — caravaners indoctrinated and enabled by the Pueblo Sin Fronteras (PSF) activist group. “I could comprehend someone wanting a better life, sneaking in, and, if caught, feeling apologetic,” she explains. “But these people are marching in front of cameras, in front of the whole world. They demand to be admitted here. Where does this sense of entitlement come from?”

It comes from several realities that make an utter mockery of legal immigration. “The DOJ had made it clear to caravan members that they would be arrested,” explains columnist Daniel Greenfield. “But because of the law, they can only be charged with a misdemeanor.”

Moreover, changes enacted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission during the last year of the Obama administration generally reduced the sentences for those illegally crossing the border after being previously deported.

Yet probably the most important piece of the entitlement mentality is driven by the bastardization of good intentions that initially precipitated the welcoming of refugees during World War II and the Cold War. The United Nations created the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol that defined the term “refugee,” outlined refugee rights, and illuminated the legal obligations of the world’s signatory nations to protect them. The U.S. became a signatory in 1968.

Yet as Greenfield further explains, policies initially aimed at helping those fleeing genuine oppression or catastrophe have been watered down to include an “economic migrant from a non-democratic country, a country suffering from natural disasters, a civil war or crime,” he writes.

The problem? “That’s most of the planet.”

Thus it should surprise no one that the Rule of Law, which requires a reasonable amount of timeliness to be effective, is the first casualty. The backlog of cases addressing the combination of illegals and “refugees” waiting to have their status adjudicated has exceeded one million, precipitating 684,000 delayed deportations.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken steps to disincentivize illegal crossings, separating illegal immigrant parents from their children, rather than keeping them in detention together. “If you cross this border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you,” Sessions warned. “It’s that simple.”

That separation policy has long existed, but is now being enforced because the number of attempted border breaches tripled from last April to this April.

Cue the leftist outrage. “This administration is set on tearing families apart, detaining immigrants without justification,” said Vedant Patel of the DNC.

The American Left is attempting to tear the country apart — eviscerating the Rule of Law and calling it “compassion.”

Murdock spoke to a Russian named Boris, who has waited 12 years — and spent $83,000 — in his quest for citizenship. “Those who violated U.S. laws to get here, arrived through acts of disrespect for this country. Why do these people get to go ahead of me?” he asks.

Between now and November, every Democrat should have to answer that question.