Entire states and cities are shut down. The economy has been paralyzed. But the migrant flow must go on.

In addition to closing U.S. borders to all but “essential travel” and citing concerns over the spread of the novel coronavrius, the Trump administration announced Friday that unauthorized immigrants accused of crossing illegally will face immediate return to their home countries.

The unprecedented announcement raised major questions about the fate of refugees and asylum seekers who regularly cross the southern border without travel documents.

That’s a very complicated way of saying illegal migrants. It’s like saying, “jewelry seekers who regularly cross doors and windows without keys.”

The shutdown of New York and California is unprecedented. Deporting people who break into the country is not unprecedented.

Administration officials sent a resounding message that detention protocols — even for those with valid claims to stay in the U.S. — pose a health risk to immigrants and Border Patrol agents alike.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said those “without proper travel documentation” will face immediate removal.

“The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Director has determined that the introduction and spread of the coronavirus at the department’s Border Patrol stations and detention facilities presents a serious danger to migrants, our frontline agents and officers and the American people,” Wolf said.

That makes perfect sense.

So of course the media is up in arms. And Amnesty International and the usual suspects are up in arms. Expect lawsuits to be filed and waged. And expect Obama and Clinton judges to declare that while elected officials have the right to effectively impose martial law on major parts of the country, they don’t have the right to block MS-13 members from invading the United States.