What to Do with a Bad Guest

Tony Blair, the former prime minister of Great Britain, closes the preface to his memoir with an anecdote about America. He tells of a Jewish friend of his whose mother had emigrated to the United States decades before. When this friend’s mother died, her son discovered, among her small trove of possessions and jewelry, a lockbox that clearly seemed to preserve some sort of treasure—though this woman had never been wealthy, and it was unclear what sort of invaluable object the box could contain:

There was no key. So they had to drill it open. They wondered what precious jewel was in it. They lifted the lid. There was wrapping and more wrapping and finally an envelope. Intrigued, they opened it. In the envelope were her U.S. citizenship papers. Nothing more. That was the jewel, more precious to her than any other possession. That was what she treasured most. So should America today.

As we read this story, we realize that this is not only a tale of this woman’s love of America; it is also an explanation for why she deserved to be embraced by America, why America was right to allow her to make this country her home, and ultimately to accord her all the rights of an American.