Washington is such a phony city. Maybe that’s why it has such a good relationship with Hollywood.

In the sequel to a “film” we have seen many times before, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) may “shut down” Saturday because of a dispute between the Obama administration and the new Republican congressional majority over funding for the president’s immigration orders, which writes The Hill.com, would “provide deferred deportations and work visas to illegal immigrants.” In essence, the orders would grant them the equivalent of squatter’s rights.

DHS doesn’t have to shut down. Most employees will show up for work, though they might have to go without pay for a while, at least until Congress gets its act together, as it has in previous politically motivated closings. But the appearance of closing the agency will allow Democrats and their media flatterers another opportunity to blame Republicans and gain short-term political advantage.

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson employed a scare tactic to pressure Republicans into caving. Johnson appeared on “ABC News This Week,” warning that Minnesota’s Mall of America might be a terrorist target. The White House defended Johnson’s comments on Monday, but Press Secretary Josh Earnest assured Americans there was no “…specific, credible plot against the Mall of America or any other domestic, commercial shopping center.” Better get your Christmas shopping done early just in case.

As usual, we are focusing on the wrong subject, or at least the wrong part of the right subject.

Of greater concern should be the flood of immigrants from Muslim countries among whom terrorists are surely hiding. As reported by Investors.com, “France, Belgium and now even liberal Denmark regret letting in so many immigrants from Muslim countries. Their swelling Islamic communities have become breeding grounds for terrorists. So why is the U.S. opening the floodgates to foreign Muslims?”

Good question.

The time to be concerned about lung cancer is before one starts smoking, not after cancer is detected. The time to be concerned about terrorists infiltrating America is before they arrive and attack shopping malls, not after their growing numbers threaten our national security

As Investors reports, “Between 2010 and 2013, the Obama administration imported almost 300,000 new immigrants from Muslim nations — more immigrants than the U.S. let in from Central America and Mexico combined over that period.” Many of them are arriving from Iraq and now Syria where ISIS has established a caliphate and from which it has announced plans to conquer Rome, meaning Christianity. “The U.S. will admit as many as 2,000 Syrian nationals by the end of fiscal year 2015, up from 525 since fiscal 2011,” Investors adds.

President Obama is living up to his 2008 campaign promise to “fundamentally transform the United States of America.” But transform it into what?

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reports that about half of New York City residents speak a language other than English at home and that one-fourth of city residents are not proficient in English, citing figures from the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Affairs. There are likely similar profiles in other big cities.

While President Obama promised that his executive order allowing illegals to stay in this country would “stem the flow” of people crossing the border and “speed the return of those who do cross over,” the opposite has occurred. Internet emails obtained by National Review Online reveal that the administration has ordered Border Patrol agents to “curtail initiation of deportation proceedings and to screen the illegal border crossers they detail for eligibility under the president’s deferred-action programs instead.”

No nation can maintain its character, strength and purpose if it does not control its borders and assimilate immigrants into the history, values and patriotism necessary for its stability and even survival.

It’s long past time to stop this influx, to seal the border and to cease allowing immigrants from nations where terrorism thrives. New arrivals should be transformed into full Americans or invited to move on to a country they love more than this one.

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist and author. Readers may email him at: tcaeditors@tribpub.com.