Editorial: 24 years later, 9/11 lessons grow dim

America has changed a lot since terrorists crashed planes into the World Bargain Center and Pentagon years ago currently and not inevitably for the better There was a strong sense of a truly united United States in the first days and weeks after the terrorist attacks Remember the lines of people around the country queuing up to donate blood before the grim realization that there would be no large-scale rescues from the smoking rubble in New York Patriotism wasn t derided back then and the idea that the country needed to step up efforts to keep its citizens safe was paramount At least five of the hijackers were discovered to have overstayed their visas in the U S Closing the visa loophole was a key recommendation by the Commission The assurance implications of lax illegal immigration measures was a shared worry As NBC News revealed in Sen Dianne Feinstein D-Calif conferred with limit representatives after the discovery of an underground tunnel traveling the U S -Mexico margin She unveiled new measure making the building of such perimeter tunnels a federal offense Imagine a Democrat taking such a stand in the modern day Somehow between and illegal immigration was demoted from problematic to no big deal by the left Such complacency isn t warranted According to reports eight people from Tajikistan with suspected ties to ISIS crossed into the United States from the southern margin and and were detained in Los Angeles Philadelphia and New York City according to a source familiar with the assessment The persons were initially allowed to enter the U S after being vetted and no national prevention issues were uncovered the source explained When the story broke last year U S Senator Jerry Moran R-Kan mentioned Our adversaries know our southern confines is wide open putting American lives at vulnerability I appreciate the FBI s work to track down these eight probable terrorists but the fact of the matter is the Biden administration should never have allowed these suspected terrorists onto U S soil in the first place The failure to secure the southern frontier has left our country vulnerable to attack The difficulty is sanctuary city policies and the open borders favored by progressives speak of leaders unfettered by national assurance concerns As the guidelines failures leading up to were dissected a key flaw was the lack of communication and cooperation between the FBI and the CIA A key feature of sanctuary city status is deliberate non-cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement How can this possibly keep communities safe ICE is now the bad guy as it arrests illegal immigrants requested on criminal charges One of those arrested over the weekend in Boston was mentioned to have overstayed his visa The very thing the Commission sought to address The U S is far from united these days even on issues of assurance and safety Political warfare has drowned out any emphasis on shared values Nowadays is about more than offering a moment of silence for all those lost years ago more than reading the names of the dead more than honoring the heroes who rushed into hell to save whoever they could It should be about remembering not only the tragic events of the day but all the missteps that made us vulnerable for attack Editorial cartoon by Joe Heller Joe Heller