I’d like to establish early on that you ignore what the Walt Disney Company has to say about crowd control at your peril. For example, in bidding to provide the event management for the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976 Disney proposed to stage an evening that featured first fireworks, then a free concert, then a second free concert. They knew from experience in their theme parks that everyone would stay for the fireworks, but far fewer would stay for the first concert, and fewer still for the second concert. The organizers of the New York City event chose this option.  Disney’s outdoor events team managed the logistics for them, and at the end there were no traffic jams. The Washington D.C. event planners chose instead to build the excitement up during the evening by holding events of increasing appeal.  They saved the fireworks for the grand finale at the end. This is a text-book example of central planners who make their best guesses without the consequential information (in this case, the crowd control experience of the Disney team) that is critical to good decision making.

As a result, people arrived by car and bus from the surrounding cities and suburbs all day long. And then–as Disney knew they would–the moment the fireworks ended every single one of them wanted to go home. The resulting traffic jam had no precedent in the U.S. It was the first instance of gridlock in an American city. Some people waited in traffic literally until dawn of July 5th to start their drive home. You ignore Disney’s advice on crowd control at your peril.

Unfortunately, that seems to be the pattern in Washington.

1. Industry learns something valuable.
2. Washington ignores it.
3. People suffer.

Disney has a lot they can teach us about how a line should work. Some agencies like TSA have wisely listened to Disney. On immigration, however, the administration is deaf to the lessons Disney offers.

Cast members at theme parks run by the Walt Disney Company are taught that unfairness is toxic to a happy environment. If even a small number of guests get away with bad behavior–butting forward in line, darting under the ropes, that kind of thing–it is a top priority to put a stop to it because of the anger and sour mood that will spread quickly through the crowd.

Disney’s imagineers have tried through their designs to eliminate the occasions for unfairness that naturally arise among large crowds. For example, acute angles in the ride lines are avoided so that guests do not overtake an inattentive neighbor as the line changes direction.

Acute angles are avoided so that the guy behind you doesn’t end up in front of you after a turn.

Most lines narrow gradually. Disney has learned that guests should be funneled slowly into single file to board the ride. If there is an abrupt change in the width of the line, guests will see the bottleneck coming and jockey for position. It’s human nature.

Lines narrow gradually to discourage the jockeying for position that occurs naturally in large groups.

Cast members take an active role in keeping things fair.  Picture a guest who, as he walks from TomorrowLand to FrontierLand, finds a pleasant view of a parade near one of the cross walks that is left open to allow such cross-parade transit. He had better keep walking. If he tries to stop nonchalantly and watch the parade a cast member will ask him to move.  (And that’s a good thing because the people he wants to stand next to waited an hour to get that spot.)

Disney is really onto something here. When a guest jumps forward in line, as anyone who has seen it in action can attest, a wave of indignation washes across all witnesses. Make no mistake, we Americans will tolerate just about any idiocy of dress, behavior, speech, or zealotry that a man might force us to witness, but let him try to wangle some advantage in a line at Disneyland and we’ll get so angry so quickly that someone who is not very observant might think we’ve got some kind of prejudice against him.

A sincere congress would learn from Disney. They would notice that illegal immigration every day hurts our relations with each other. I don’t want to be wondering in the back of my mind if the person I’m talking to is in the country legally or not. Nothing against him personally, of course, but I have these wonderful stories of a grandfather working for years before being able to bring his family from Italy. Are there others today who are waiting patiently while this guy in front of me has jumped ahead? These angering ruminations pop up everywhere in daily life, complicating our relations with one another. My half-French half-African colleague at work says that because of his dark hair and brown skin people are probably wondering if he is here legally. My friend at church who is 100% Mexican by lineage and who has roots in San Antonio going back 100 years is upset when clerks address her in Spanish, a language she does not speak. Isn’t congress interested in keeping things fair so that people will get along? Judging from the sanctioned line-jumping offered in the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, they don’t seem to get the concept.

To add insult to injury, some folks in Washington call me a racist for wanting to learn from Disney’s lesson on keeping the lines fair. But tell me, who would not want the lines to be fair? Actually, that’s an easy one to answer.  The only ones who don’t want to stop the line-jumping are the ones who don’t stand in the same lines that we do.

Related: Aim Anger at Illegals and You Pick the Wrong Target