In one sense, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are the foundation of the country's government. The Declaration laid out the principles we aspire toward. The Constitution established the three branches of government. It contains many brilliant mechanisms to check the government's power. The Bill of Rights offers another layer of protection.

But mere words — even some of the most brilliant and influential words ever written — didn't create America's greatness. Americans did.

Imagine you could magically impose America's system of government in Somalia, Afghanistan or the Gaza Strip. Same Declaration of Independence. Same Constitution. Same Bill of Rights. Would it turn those Third World nations into First World successes?

Of course not. Just look at the 260,000 people of Somali descent living in America. More than 100,000 of them live in Minnesota. In recent weeks, there have been numerous stories about how Somalis in Minnesota stole billions of dollars from the government. That led to millions of dollars going to Al-Shabaab, an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group.

In one scheme, Asha Farhan Hassan created Smart Therapy, which supposedly offered services for children with autism. She and her partners recruited Somali parents and worked to get their children fake autism diagnoses. They used that to secure Medicaid funding. Hassan then cut the parents in on the scheme.

"Several larger families left Smart Therapy after being offered larger kickbacks by other autism centers," the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota wrote in a release.

Importing Somalis to America didn't give them American values. They brought their pre-existing values to America and ripped off taxpayers for billions. They brought clan rivalries from Somalia along with them as well.

Afghanistan provides another example of this. After 9/11, the United States took over the country. We spent more than $130 billion there. That's more than America spent rebuilding Western Europe with the Marshall Plan, according to the Washington Post. The United States even held elections in Afghanistan. But as soon as former President Joe Biden decided to surrender, the country fell to the Taliban. Despite all the money and lives lost, we couldn't export democracy to a society with a vastly different history and heritage.

These differences were punctuated by an Afghan national allegedly murdering a National Guardsman in Washington, D.C., recently.

Even democracy isn't a cure-all. In 2006, Gaza Strip residents elected Hamas to run the region. Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre initially boosted Hamas' favorability ratings among Palestinians.

What the Founding Fathers understood — but many modern Americans don't — is that our society's foundation isn't the government. It's the shared values, culture and history that bind individuals into citizens of a nation. Those are the pillars that uphold the government.

This is why importing millions of people who have fundamentally different worldviews is a terrible idea — and not just in America. Look at England. Grooming gangs raped thousands of girls over decades. Most officials ignored the problem because the rapists were largely from Pakistan. They feared being accused of racism.

Even immigrants who support Western civilization and have Judeo-Christian values need time to assimilate. People aren't interchangeable units of economic activity. They have religious values, customs and worldviews. Our country has an interest in making sure new arrivals learn ours. Learning English should be non-negotiable. Those living in the same country need to be able to communicate with each other. This makes it easier to build trust and cohesion.

As of June 2025, America had more than 50 million immigrants. More than 15% of the country's population was born elsewhere. That includes a staggering 19% of the workforce.

It's too much. At this point, the melting pot is boiling over.

Victor Joecks is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and host of the Sharpening Arrows podcast. Email him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or follow @victorjoecks on X. To find out more about Victor Joecks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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