Sunday, April 20, 2014

Thoughts on Illegal Immigration

Written on August 14th, 2011



   I agree with Ron Paul and Gary Johnson that it should be easier to immigrate legally. But I wouldn’t offer incentives to break the law. Like I said, immigrants who come here when they are children (when they cannot give consent) are not intentionally breaking the law, nor are they even aware of the law. So there is no incentive for them, because they are not aware of those incentives.

   I think it would be acceptable to give them aid (whether funded by states or by the federal government) as long as they have clean criminal records, speak English fluently, and are pursuing some sort of higher education or service to our country (i.e., military).



   The Constitution does not explicitly authorize the federal government to provide aid to illegal immigrants. But if majorities of both houses of congress vote that way (or if the president orders it), it happens. No value judgments, just the way the legal process works.

   But I can see that a libertarian Supreme Court would decide that the General Welfare clause would invalidate the DREAM Act because it serves the interests of particular people, and not of the general welfare, and I agree.

   But I think that illegal immigration is inherently a legal issue, and that it is inherently one which is between countries (states cannot sign treaties with foreign countries), and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the federal government, and not the states.

   After all, government agents determine the salaries of government agents. Does that promote the general welfare, or the welfare of individuals? If the latter, then the Constitution does not authorize government agents to get paid at all. Maybe that’s the way it should be, maybe all public service should be voluntary and charitable. It would certainly help budgets.

   On another note, I can also see that a free market in charity to illegal immigrants might bring about a more efficient and enthusiastic delivery of funds to those who need them.

   Now, if you and I and some other people decide to use our right to freely associate to pool our money and resources to house illegal immigrants and send them to college, and we think we can do it more efficiently and less expensively than the government can do it, that remains to be seen, and is another issue entirely.



   I said I believed it would be acceptable and reasonable for the federal government to get involved in aid to illegal immigrants. I don’t mean to say that just because I believe something is authorized, acceptable, and reasonable, it should be done. I can’t even say with certainty that, if elected, I would ever vote for anything. I feel like I would abstain on any and all votes, because I don’t even believe in the legitimacy of the federal government (or of any government which has implemented secret-ballot voting or which practices monopolistic protection-service provision) in the first place.

   The problem we have as a country now is that government takes up so much of our economy, it’s hard to get anything done (including affecting social change) without government. I can only hope that by some miracle private individuals start taking it upon themselves to pool their funds to affect social change on the face-to-face, direct-action level, and in so doing prove the government unnecessary.

   But in the meantime, we’re going to have to deal with the Obama administration trying to push through some sort of comprehensive immigration reform. And, as with Obamacare, they’re going to try to push it through as quickly as possible, with little transparency until the very last moment, and with ways-and-means maneuvers which seem unreasonable and illegal. Then, once the law will have passed, anyone seeking to de-fund certain aspects of it will be dealt with as racists and as people who hate the less-advantaged.

   I would favor keeping our free-market options open. If only our money weren’t falling apart and we could afford to affect the social change we wish to see effectively, efficiently, affordably, and in a way that makes it obvious to everybody that using the government approach is a waste of time and money.




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