"I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;

It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash is added to her wounds."

You may not remember this quote, but there's a small chance it is rattling around in your brain — possibly since high school. I've stolen it from a little-known English storyteller nicknamed the Bard. It’s from a play about the famous General Donald "Macbeth" Trump. This world leader receives a prophecy from three D.C. swamp witches, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Chris Murphy. These sorcerers have condemned the American people to an eternity of lackluster border security.

We are in danger. We need to start the shutdown/border security discussion by asking: Do we really need a wall? Well, we actually already have one. The problem is that it’s woefully inadequate. The current 580-mile barrier was championed by both Democrats and Republicans in 2006. The "Secure Fence Act" passed the Senate by a whopping 80-19 margin 13 years ago. Here are some of the marquee names who voted yes: John McCain, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Christopher Dodd, Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and an unknown senator named Barack Obama.

A 40-foot-high wall that stretches the 1,954-mile border between the United States and Mexico is probably unrealistic. However, additional barriers will go a long way to funnel migrants to legal points of entry. It’s simply another mechanism to keep Americans safe. The most important task of elected officials is supposed to be the safety and security of American citizens. A series of well-placed structures will help stop the flow of drugs, gang members, criminals, and potential terrorists. Denying those facts is simply not being honest. Now, I’m well aware that, of the 1,000 people who might sneak across the border daily, maybe only one represents a potential threat. But a threat is still a threat! 

In 2017, approximately 326 million people lived in the U.S. In that year, there were 17,284 murders and over 40,000 vehicle-related fatalities. If there were 10 million illegals living here — and most studies say there were more — and if they are morally no better or worse than the rest of us, simple math would suggest they committed 518 murders and were responsible for about 1,200 highway fatalities in that period.

We should be somewhat concerned about this. These victims matter, and they should not be simply collateral damage for a progressive agenda.

Most of us rely on some slanted study to support our personal bias on the relative dangers and costs of illegal immigration. Forget about what you hear on TV, forget about what's on the radio or in the paper. We have no idea who is here illegally. No idea of the number of gang members, drug dealers or terrorists. It’s all speculation. There very easily could be thousands of sleeper cells in this country. With children able to simply walk across the border from Mexico into the United States, how can we be sure ISIS, Al Qaeda or any other terror group hasn't or won't do the same? One of my biggest fears is turning on the microphone to do my radio show one morning and having to break the story that some major American city is on fire from a dirty bomb.

The same question can be aimed at drug trafficking. Tens of thousands of Americans died last year from drug overdoses. Go ask a cop and he or she will tell you they can only quantify what they catch. How many smugglers made it through — and with what? Which are the drug mules? Which are farmers or day laborers, who are the members of MS-13? It’s impossible to know because we only catch a fraction of the people who sneak through.

Lady Macbeth famously said, "What's done cannot be undone." Our president’s biggest gaffe was his lack of action on the border in his first 100 days in office. The first thing he should’ve done was push for a non-partisan infrastructure bill. He could easily have gotten full funding for the wall — $25 billion, not $5 billion.

The sad truth is: We have less than adequate immigration security. Our airports, train stations, ports and borders both north and south need a complete overhaul. Everyone who wants to come to America isn’t coming with the purest of hearts. There is always the possibility that “something wicked this way comes.”

 Lee Elci is the morning host for 94.9 News Now radio, a local station that provides "Stimulating Talk" with a conservative bent.