Libertarians: The Secret Strength of the Immigration Reform Movement from www.campusprogress.org

Posted by Doug Craig at 6/30/2010 11:47 AM
Categories: Borders
Tags: libertarian open borders Mexicans

 

Here is a good article for you to read. Just so folks know I am an open border kind of guy. I believe in easy crossing with security in place.So it is ok to buy tomatoes from a big business who imports them in .but a farmer cant use that same labout to pick his tomatoes in California because the guy is Mexican.It is not the illeagls that are jkilling us it is government welfare that is

ihttp://www.campusprogress.org/fieldreport/5797/libertarians-the-secret-strength-of-the-immigration-reform-movement

 

Libertarians: The Secret Strength of the Immigration Reform Movement

While the immigration debate takes place between the left and the right, the perspective of libertarians is often left out of the debate.

By Julissa Treviño
June 29, 2010

Immigration protester
(Flickr/looking4poetry)

There are generally two well-known perspectives on the immigration issue: One is that the United States needs to reform federal immigration policy, and the other we should enforce current federal immigration policy. What’s rarely heard, or taken seriously, is a different perspective altogether that actually questions the most fundamental arguments behind immigration policy—a perspective that could change the way Americans and American politicians think about the issue.

More and more, immigration is becoming a major issue among libertarians, who believe in smaller government and more personal freedom. Traditionally, libertarians are more open to immigration than both conservatives and liberals, explains Daniel Griswold, director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the libertarian research center the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. “Most libertarians are sympathetic toward immigration. They see human migration as a personal freedom. That’s in contrast to conservatives and Republicans."

Although progressives are open to reforming immigration law, some on the left have concerns about wage depression and the impact on labor unions, says Griswold. Beyond that, it seems to be a much broader philosophical argument about the power of the government.

“Libertarians are more inclined to ask the question, ‘Why should it be illegal?’ Conservatives are more likely to accept the term ‘illegal’ and to want to enforce it,” says Griswold. “What crime have these people committed other than trying to improve their human condition? Libertarians believe in rule of law, but they support laws that are consistent with individual liberty. Our immigration law doesn’t meet that standard.”

But there is a clear-cut conflict among libertarians about how to deal with immigration law. Many want open borders, but not until we can privatize education and health care. If there’s a division among libertarians,

 

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