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.
For
more entries on borders, immigration, and territorial integrity,
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