The primary duty of a government is to secure its borders and ensure that the law is applied equally to all. For years, so-called 'sanctuary' jurisdictions have made a mockery of this principle, picking and choosing which federal mandates they wish to follow. This week, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has finally drawn a line in the sand, suggesting that airports in cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement may lose their federal customs processing.

This is not a matter of 'retribution,' as the critics claim, but a simple matter of common sense. Why should the federal government provide the luxury of international transit to cities that actively sabotage the national covenant? A nation that cannot control who enters its gates is not a nation at all. By withdrawing Customs and Border Protection from hubs like JFK and LAX, Secretary Mullin is reminding these local leaders that their defiance has consequences for the biological and legal security of our communities.

We must support this return to order. The $15,000 visa bonds now being implemented are a necessary tool to ensure that those who visit our shores do so with the intent to respect our laws. For too long, we have allowed the process of citizenship to be devalued by a lack of enforcement. The border is the moat that protects our treasures of faith, family, and labor. If the gatekeepers are not allowed to do their jobs, the entire structure of our society remains insecure.