People are often surprised when I tell them I
believe in open borders … in theory, that is. That’s right, the
libertarian side of me believes that a person has a natural right to live
wherever he pleases.
Stop and think about that for a moment. Why
should a bunch of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats be able to keep you from
living in the country of your choosing? Or make you jump through hoops
for the honor of legally settling there?
All good theoretical stuff, but, unfortunately,
reality has a way of overwhelming theory, and the dominant reality of our age
is that a significant number of the earth’s inhabitants believe they have a
right to violate your freedom. I’m not just talking about political thugs
and bureaucrats, but their envy-crazed followers as well. Thus, the
reality of illegal immigration is that it has the potential to destroy a
civilized country.
That said, if the United States were to declare
undocumented residents ineligible for any form of government assistance, that
would be a reality that would change everything. I’m talking about food
stamps, unemployment benefits, and healthcare (yes, including emergency room
services) — literally, all forms of public assistance — not to mention
free education and myriad other government programs.
Some other actions that would change the
reality of the illegal-immigrant landscape include:
- Immediately
terminating the United States’ absurd anchor-baby policy and have it
adjudicated by the Supreme Court once and for all. Babies of non-citizens
born in the United States are in no way, shape, or form covered by the 14th
Amendment, which was adopted in 1868 specifically to protect the children
of former slaves.
- Passing legislation
to end the visa lottery and chain migration.
- Meting out steep
financial penalties against employers who hire undocumented workers.
With these policies in place, a border wall
would become unnecessary. If all incentives to enter the United States
illegally were removed, there would be no reason for anyone to want to come
here.
It’s not that these solutions are difficult for
politicians to understand. The problem is that they do not want to
understand, because Democrats are after new voters and Republicans are after
cheap labor for their big donors.
As to the “caravan” invasion now making its way
to the United States, solving this problem is already covered by Title 8,
Chapter 12, of the U.S. Code. That’s right, the president already has
unrestricted emergency powers to require all non-citizens arriving at our
border to be turned away, regardless of sex or age and regardless of their
reasons for wanting to come here. (Amnesty requests, of course, should be
considered only if they are applied for at an American embassy in another
country.)
Now, I can just hear sanctimonious liberals
screaming that Robert Ringer is cruel and unfeeling. Sorry, but I’m not
intimidated by hysterical rhetoric intended to shame. I consider myself
to be a very compassionate person, certainly far more compassionate than any
liberal.
My compassion, however, goes first to American
citizens and legal residents who are suffering. There’s only so much
compassion to go around — because there’s only so much wealth to go around —
and common sense dictates that charity begin at home.
Allowing tens of millions of uneducated,
unskilled foreigners to enter the United States illegally is the cruelest thing
that can be done to poverty-stricken Americans, homeless Americans, mentally
ill Americans, and especially veterans who fall into one or more of these
categories.
Then there’s the Dirty Dem canard of insisting
that the illegal-immigrant problem could be solved if the United States would
just use its financial resources to boost the economies of third-world
countries. This, of course, is ridiculous. We’ve given these
countries billions of dollars of aid over the years, yet they are poorer than
ever.
Let’s get real here: Most of the money we
send to third-world countries ends up benefitting, directly or indirectly, the
ruling classes. Do we really want to further enrich corrupt politicians
and their allies for oppressing their own people?
It’s not that complicated: Corrupt
politicians are the main reason why the people of most Central American countries
— and, indeed, most countries throughout the world — have been living in
poverty and violence for centuries. Short of invading their countries and
forcing our system of government on them — which we already know doesn’t work —
the reality is that there is nothing we can do to improve the lives of their
citizens.
Worst of all, liberals would have us believe
that we have no right to enjoy freedom and prosperity while others are
suffering. This emotion is called envy — the desire to bring
others down to one’s own level of misery.
Envy has been around since the beginning of
time, but it was Barack Hussein Obama who popularized it and gave it a much
higher profile than it had ever before enjoyed in America. As a devout
Marxist from his earliest years, once in office he immediately set about
apologizing to other countries for America’s flaws and putting in place
policies that were intended to strip America of its economic and military
dominance.
I feel sorry for every person living in a
country where poverty is rampant, where human rights are nonexistent, and where
there is no due process. Nevertheless, none of this is the fault of the
United States — and certainly not the fault of its individual citizens. True,
most of us are lottery winners by birth, but there is no rational reason to
feel guilty about it.
Whether the fake caravan(s) now making
its/their way to our southern border ends bloody or peacefully, it’s time to
implement the common-sense policies I have outlined in this article. Additionally
— and emergencies powers of the president aside — what is needed is
unambiguous, non-negotiable legislation that makes the United States policy on
illegal immigration crystal clear, to wit:
Any undocumented person arriving at any border
of the United States, regardless of age, sex, or country of origin, must immediately
be refused entry. No courts involved. End of discussion.
Either we take such an unyielding stance or, by
default, meekly submit to the dissolution of the United States of
America. History teaches us that empires fall apart when their rulers and
their citizens become soft, and Americans have become very soft. Now,
thankfully, we are being forced to make a choice, and for that I must thank the
organizers of the fake caravans. What shall it be?
Am I being too subtle?