In March 2022, the Biden administration declared that it would allow persons to identify their gender as “X” instead of male or female on visas, passports and immigration documents. Gender, however, is indispensable to identifying and preventing the entry of terrorists, murderers, rapists or other criminals into the country. Facial recognition, fingerprints and DNA also play a role. But gender is critical to reliable vetting.

President Joe Biden rolled the dice with our national security to advance his cultural agenda. It’s unclear whether criminals have taken advantage of his political gamesmanship and are now among us. If we see incidents of crime under the Trump administration by criminals who eluded detection by authorities by abusing this policy, the fault will be Biden’s. President Donald Trump put an end to Biden’s national security madness through an executive order mandating that government documents refer to “an individual’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” His administration will not process documents that identify the gender of the applicant as “X.”

Government agencies rely on clear and verifiable identification markers to confirm identity, track criminal records and prevent fraud. Amateurs may think that facial recognition, fingerprints or DNA are foolproof. But they are not.

Gender is key to detecting passport fraud, fake IDs and identity theft. Trump’s detractors argue that his executive order is motivated to harm a politically unpopular group, not to fortify national security. The critics also point to Trump’s prohibition on transgender people serving in the military. But the order does not criminalize transgender persons. They are free to identify as transgender, but when it comes to legal documents, national security triumphs over all other concerns.

We live in a world where terrorist threats, human trafficking and illegal immigration hang like a sword of Damocles over our survival as a nation. We had too many cases of identity theft, fraud, bogus asylum claims and crimes under the Biden administration. Trump should be celebrated for restoring normality in gender identification to government documents.

Besides concerns over security, the “X” category inevitably opens Americans up to international hassles or delays when traveling abroad. Many nations were skeptical of passports or visas featuring the gender designation “X.” Who wants additional delays at customs or passport control after a 14-hour flight?

Identity verification matters. Accuracy matters. National security matters even more. Safety is at the apex of government responsibilities. President Trump’s executive order is a necessary course correction from his predecessor’s recklessness.

Armstrong Williams (www.armstrongwilliams.com; @arightside) is a political analyst, syndicated columnist and owner of the broadcasting company, Howard Stirk Holdings. He is also part owner of The Baltimore Sun.