Optics? How about the optics of thousands invading our country with entitlement.
Yes, it is a battle of optics, but the optics of "invading with entitlements" has been driven into our collective consciousness over the decades as a good thing, something that this country has always welcomed (I know that is an oversimplification and is wrong). All the stories about tired, huddled masses, Statue of Liberty, etc. will be trotted out. But the optics of a soldier pointing a gun at a pregnant mother or a child - that is never good.