One of the nation’s top immigration experts said the Obama administration’s decision not to institute an Ebola flight ban is reflective of a broader problem–that the country’s political elites do not feel comfortable using immigration law to protect Americans.

Appearing on Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot channel 125, Mark Krikorian, the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), told host and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon that America’s bipartisan permanent political class “don’t really like the idea of keeping people who want to come here out.”

He said the basic problem is that “our political class is not comfortable with the idea of using border controls and using immigration law to protect Americans.” 

Krikorian added that this is not specific to the Ebola crisis and mentioned the recent border crisis, involving thousands of illegal immigrants from Central America, and the 9/11 terrorists, who overstayed their visas before attacking the World Trade Center. 

He emphasized that “regular, consistent, strict enforcement of regular immigration laws is one of the most important parts of protecting the country,” but “our political class just doesn’t like that idea” because “they really see themselves as citizens of the world.”

Krikorian said it was an open question whether President Barack Obama wants to first and foremost protect the American people “even if that inconveniences foreigners.”

He added that much of the country’s elite, including Democrats, liberals, libertarians, and business conservatives think “border controls are nuisances that they see as needing to be dialed down as much as they can get away with.”

Krikorian said that is why there is a “trust gap” between the general public that must live with the consequences of failed immigration enforcement and the elites who want open borders. 

Regarding the mysterious illnesses that have been spreading around the country, causing death and paralysis, Krikorian said he was not sure if the outbreaks were related to the large numbers of illegal immigrant juveniles who have been dumped in every state. But he added that Americans can’t “trust the government to honestly tell us whether it is related to the surge of illegal immigrants who have crossed the border.” He added that since “much of our elites don’t really trust or like the American people… there’s no reason to trust them,” either. 

Regarding Ebola and Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian immigrant who was diagnosed with the disease in Texas, Krikorian said there is “no kind of screening that can keep out people” with Ebola “who have the virus but don’t have symptoms yet.” He said it was “insane” for people to oppose an Ebola travel ban and he hopes the federal government sends Duncan back to Liberia if he survives his bout with Ebola so that Americans do not have to spend even more taxpayer funds on him. 

“Send him back to Liberia so it’s on their dime,” he said regarding potential legal actions that can be taken against Duncan.