Immigration

What the Immigration Bill Overlooks

by Sheldon Richman July 9, 2013

In passing the monstrosity known as immigration “reform,” the Senate overlooked a few things of importance. This is unsurprising. A bill on immigration that is backed by leading Republicans and Democrats, big business, and government-co-opted unions is bound to have missed some things. The bill, whose fate in the House is uncertain, would appropriate $40 billion over the next decade ...

Did President Obama “Radicalize” the Tsarnaevs?

by Sheldon Richman April 30, 2013

If the Brothers Tsarnaev’s bombing at the Boston Marathon is an argument against immigration, then Tim McVeigh’s bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is an argument against reproductive freedom. Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev came to the United States from the Caucasus as youngsters. On what grounds should they have been barred from the country? That their family ...

Nativism, the Citizenship Union, and Barriers to Movement

by Fergus Hodgson April 3, 2013

The day is rapidly approaching when the epithet “nativist” will carry as much power as “racist.” Not only is nativism — the practice of favoring the established inhabitants of a country over recent immigrants — hateful and based on a fallacy; its destructive consequences are becoming more apparent by the day. Nativism, and its manifestation in debates over American citizenship, ...

Immigration, the Constitution, and Liberty

by Tim Kelly February 19, 2013

Immigration is one of those intractable wedge issues. It is, for the most part, a problem created by government meddling — and therefore any “solution” implemented by the government is more likely to aggravate the situation than improve it. First, let me state that I believe the federal government to have no authority over immigration except to create uniform laws ...

Deportations Guarantee Injustice

by Scott McPherson November 29, 2012

This country’s immigration laws are a travesty. Americans boast that their country is a free and open society, with a long history of immigration and a dedication to fairness and opportunity. They then support laws that arbitrarily limit the number of people allowed to live, work, and pursue their happiness within our borders. Such laws create unfair burdens on businesses, interfering ...

Republican Reconsideration of Immigration

by Sheldon Richman November 15, 2012

“Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others.” — Groucho Marx Apparently Groucho has been elected chairman of the Republican National Committee. Mitt Romney’s loss to Barack Obama has so shocked the Republican Party that it now is willing to question long-held positions. If defeat prompts Republicans to abandon anti-freedom convictions, that’s all to the good — ...

What Part of “Illegal” Really Matters?

by Scott McPherson July 2, 2012

The mantra of some in the anti-immigration movement in this country can be found in the following question: What part of “illegal” do you not understand? It is regularly featured on protest placards; it’s in their widely circulated emails. Most anti-immigration types will not say they are anti-immigration, of course — they’re just anti–illegal immigration, they ...

Beyond the DREAM Act

by Fergus Hodgson January 23, 2012

We’ve all heard of the policy centerpiece for immigration-reform proponents, the DREAM Act. The battle over this legislation, which would offer a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants, has labored on for more than a decade now; but, rather than being enacted, the bill has failed repeatedly. Sadly, the legislative battle has stoked animosity instead of intelligent dialogue ...

Frustrated with Immigrants? Just Wait until They Leave

by Fergus Hodgson December 20, 2011

The enforcement of laws against illegal immigrants remains a bone of contention between states and the federal government (and on the GOP presidential campaign trail), and the U.S. Supreme Court has now agreed to weigh in on the issue. There is, however, an irony to this battle that appears to be lost on deportation proponents: many people ...

What Immigration Problem?

by Sheldon Richman November 11, 2011

Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia have each enacted stringent laws aimed at curbing illegal immigration. Before saying more, lets be clear about the alleged problem. What is an illegal immigrant? Its simply a person possessing natural rights, mind you who comes to the United States without the permission of the U.S. government. Now isn't it curious that in this country, ...

Immigration Chaos

by Fergus Hodgson July 27, 2011

The presence of illegal immigrants in the United States continues to generate ineffectual political initiatives, from employment verification mandates to referendums against in-state tuition access. These fail to resolve the underlying causes for the presence of illegals, such as the arbitrary (see the immigration lottery), expensive, and humiliating immigration process (and I speak from ...

Migration Affirms Hunger for Freedom

by Fergus Hodgson June 14, 2011

The Mercatus Center has just released a tantalizing ranking of freedom for the American states, including individual state profiles and a feast of data analysis. Most compelling, though, is the insight that people know where freedom is, and they’re migrating to it. Over the 2000 to 2009 period, the difference between a state ranked in the bottom third, ...