This is CBS I On The World with John Bacheler. Here's John Bacheler.

I welcome Daniel Hanager writing his Wonderland column for the Editorial Page of the Wall Street Journal.

Deputy Editor of the Editorial Page of the Wall Street Journal because immigration is the story of America.

United States of America, the 15th and 16th century. That's when it started.

And Dan observes this in his column. It's not especially fresh information, but it might be Dan a very good evening too.

Immigration not only built this country, it is the country.

Do they these days in the immigration fight about these people who come to this country without permission?

Does that become part of the conversation that without immigration we don't exist?

And that the fending off of migrants is defending off of the future? Is that already there, Dan? Good evening to you.

Neither, John. No, it's not really there. That is kind of my point that the immigration history of the United States is pretty much fading into oblivion.

Beneath the weight of the illegal micro-indipest that has been occurring now for several years, especially under Joe Biden's border policy of no policy whatsoever.

So we are stuck between these polar opposite policy ideas of Donald Trump's, which was to build a wall back in 2015 or 2016.

And then Joe Biden's policy, which is to reverse Trump and have no border policy whatsoever.

And the only experience that the American people have had the past several years of the subject of immigration here are these images of migrants waiting across the real grand river by the millions, 1.6 million have come in the last two years.

Without anything done by the federal government, other than to ask the border patrol to process them through and what's getting buried in those images and in the polarization of the discussion over migrants is the fact that immigration is fundamental to America's history.

Back to the 18th century, 19th century, starting around the 1820s, a wave of immigrants starting in the eastern seaboard rolled western across the country.

If you read the history of it, John, it is just quite astonishing building the city and town one after another, almost like pop up toys, creating practical technologies along the way.

That was all done by immigrants and that story of new workers, new ideas and new initiatives has kind of undergirded the story of America's success, both as an economic and military power for the last 150 years.

But that looks to be so it may be stopping now, John, because the experience at the southern border has turned public opinion against the idea of immigration.

And that has implications for the long term future of the United States.

So we can have a long debate about the cultural and economic dislocation of these illegal migrants and certainly the way they're coming in is reprehensible to say the least, but there is no getting around the fact that people from foreign lands that just all through our history made tremendous contributions to the future of the United States.

And I think that's kind of the dynamic that is being put at risk right now.

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