More than 900 people were arrested across South Africa this week as citizens took to the streets to demand their government do something about mass illegal immigration — and the consequences of decades of border neglect should be a warning to every American watching their own country lose control of who comes in.

South African police reported the arrests Wednesday, with the SAPS saying the majority were "illegal foreigners" and others were busted for harboring illegal immigrants, looting, and violence. One person was shot dead in Alexandra township near Johannesburg, where residents looted informal convenience stores known as spaza shops, which are frequently run by foreigners. In Durban, a foreigner allegedly jumped to his death from the eighth floor of a building after being targeted by protesters. Soldiers were deployed to Hillbrow after a shooting left two injured.

The establishment framing wrote itself. President Cyril Ramaphosa called it "scapegoating of vulnerable people" and insisted South Africans' problems are "our own problems." The Santa Clarita Valley Signal ran with the headline "Police arrest 900 in South African immigration protest" — neutral enough to make you think 900 citizens just decided to riot for no reason. The Daily Caller, by contrast, focused domestically on ICE reportedly ramping up arrests in the U.S., connecting the same enforcement logic to American soil.

Here's what the Signal buried and Ramaphosa would rather you ignore: South Africa's youth unemployment sits at 46%. The country has among the highest murder rates in the world. Tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Nigeria have poured across the borders. Protest leaders say those immigrants are taking work at rock-bottom wages and fueling the drug trade.

Protest leader Ngizwe Mchunu put it plainly: "It's a very sad story that we have been telling our government since the dawn of democracy that illegal immigration here is out of hand. It is time for our government to put South Africa first."

Three groups — Operation Dudula, Progressive Forces, and March and March — are leading the charge. The unofficial anti-immigrant movement set a deadline of June 30 for undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

Police deputy national commissioner Lt. Gen. Tebello Mosikili said 108 of the 120 marches were peaceful and thanked participants and their leaders for mostly obeying the law. The violence — looting, robbery, arson — came from people who, in Mosikili's words, "sought to exploit yesterday's events to commit criminal acts."

That distinction matters. A car belonging to a foreigner was set on fire. Journalist Hopewell Chin'ono called it "idiotic, backward and criminal." He's right about the arson. But labeling the entire popular movement as backward is how you get more arson — by telling citizens their grievances are illegitimate until they have nothing left but force.

The pattern is the same everywhere: government opens the door, communities pay the price, and when they finally push back, the same officials who failed to enforce the law call the people bigots. South Africa is three decades post-apartheid and the ruling class still can't deliver basic security or a functioning economy — but it can lecture citizens about their tone.

The question for Americans isn't whether South Africa's violence was justified. It's whether Washington will enforce the border before the same frustration reaches the same boiling point here.