I am a registered Libertarian and there are more than two views when it comes to the topic of immigration.
- There are closed borders libertarians (No one can enter our borders without permission and if caught are deported.)
- There are open border libertarians (Individuals should have the right to trade freely, escape from tyranny and not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries. This means keeping you from leaving the United States if she become tyrannical. You should not need permission to leave, but may need permission to enter another country. What is “unreasonable” is debated among various libertarians.)
- There are State-Border libertarians (Leave it up to each State to enforce their own borders. I know very few libertarians who hold this view.)
- There are private-property bordertarians (You have the right to allow/exclude whomever you want onto/from your private property. Just like there the walls of your house is a border, these libertarians include your property line as a border in which you enforce yourself. Some believe it is the role of the state to protect your private property, in addition to yourself.)
- There are closed-borders-until-we-end-government-programs libertarians (Incentives & entitlements that encourage individuals to come here illegally is what these libertarians view as theft and redistribution of wealth by force.)
- And then there are other views that are less common.
I can see valid arguments of a few different points of view. As the great Thomas Sowell said in A Conflict of Visions, “There are no real solutions, only trade-offs.”
My problem with most Democrats is that they only look at the benefits of open borders and not the trade-offs (diseases, homelessness, crime, a breakdown of order, etc.)
My problem with how many Republicans frame it is how they paint all illegal immigrants as violent criminals. Some are. We had a Hispanic off-duty police officer shot, along with two others, by an illegal immigrant at a bar. The officer, a husband and father did not make it. Extremely sad and would not have happened had this individual not been here illegally. However, we also had a woman who was rąped and murdered by a man who was born and raised in the United States! It later came out that he was a serial rąpist (11 other woman that we know of)! A few months back we had a stabbing outside of a local bar. The individual was also not an illegal immigrant. You get my point.
The Bible tells us that, as Christians, we are to treat “aleans” with human dignity and respect. Jesus also said that if someone is robbing you of your coat (and you have two), then just give the man with no coat your extra coat. This, however, is not a legal framework. This is a voluntary giving and not involuntary Socialism.
To the open-border individuals, I tell them that I will be over for Dinner tonight and raid their fridge, and tomorrow night, and the night after that. If they have a problem with this, then they are hypocrites. To the closed-border individuals I ask what they would do if your politicians no longer adhere to the Constitution & Bill of Rights, should you be free to leave? Does the government have a right to decide whom you should be able to do business with? How closed borders are you?
I lean more towards the private-property model and closed-border hybrid model. This means that if you would like to invite someone from another country to be a United States citizen (with limited rights, similar to Japan) then you would be held responsible for these individuals. Meaning that if they starve to death, then you are held accountable. If they commit a crime, then you are held responsible. If you hold these individuals against their will, then you will be held responsible. If you make them do forced labor, then you will be held responsible. So be wise whom you sponsor and do not mistreat individuals that you do sponsor. The part that would be like Japan’s model is that non-native citizens would not have the privilege of voting. This would eliminate the Democrats from abusing the immigration system to cheat in elections (hypothetically). I’m against entitlement programs for native-born citizens, so of course I would not extend them to non-native-born citizens. I believe that it is the role of charity to take care of one another. Involuntary Socialism always ends in starvation and genocide.
Thoughts?