Vitriol over immigration ignores rule of law

Childhood memories often dull with age, but a lasting memory here of Gus — wearing his baker whites and a crumpled Stetson — hosing down the sidewalk in front of his home is not only as vivid now as it ever was, but also more moving now than it ever was, perhaps because it’s never been better understood.

Our adjacent homes were brick row houses atop a Roxbury hill called Linwood Square, a glorious place where lifelong friendships weren’t defined by race or nationalities, but rather by genuine affections.

Gus had come from Leone, a village nestled between Naples and Rome, bringing with him dazzling skills as a baker, which he would display for Dorothy Muriel, Sunshine Biscuits and First National Stores before saving enough to open his own little shop on Tremont Street, just a few blocks down from Mission Church.

For Gus, that was the slice of heaven that drew him here.

In years to come his sons — one a structural engineer, the other an accomplished musician — would prosper, and a great-grandson would pilot Apache helicopters in Afghanistan.

But the symbolism of Gus washing that sidewalk remains most stirring here. There was nothing subservient about it. He just loved America; it was as simple as that.

His story was America’s story, beginning with his arrival at Ellis Island.

He made no demands. He broke no laws.

Today, however, there are those who insist America should open its borders to anyone seeking entry, imposing no requirements, and to disagree with them is to invite their vitriol:

You don’t care about family separation! You don’t care about traumatized children! You’re hateful, and xenophobic, too!

Well, that’s their opinion and they’re entitled to it.

But other Americans have a right to differing opinions.

Woodie Guthrie would have reminded us all: “This land is your land, this land is my land.”

Fine. But if strenuously we differ? Then we remain a nation of laws.

It’s simple. There are legal ways to come to America, and mob rule is not one of them, even if the mob is led by people holding public office. Politicians, shamelessly trolling for votes, are not what this country is all about, and that’s got nothing to do with heartlessness on the part of other Americans who simply want orderliness. Please. They are not wrong. “To put it bluntly,” Gus’ late son Gino said, “this is a free country, but everything isn’t free. Everything is possible, however. My mother and father taught us that.”