Immigration

The Meritless Language Argument

by Scott McPherson May 10, 2006

Anti-immigrant types often use the language argument to make their case: that without a common language, people will never be able to get along and prosper. I couldn’t help but think of this recently when my wife and I decided to get some much-needed work done around the house. I’m no handyman, ...

Speaking Spanish and Assimilating

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 10, 2006

I’m always intrigued by people who complain that Latino immigrants who don’t learn English aren’t “assimilating” within American society. Consider my hometown of Laredo, Texas, where I was practicing law in the 1970s. The jury pool for judicial trials consisted of citizens whose names had been taken from the voter ...

The Immigration Debate We’re Not Having

by Scott McPherson April 28, 2006

As the nation finds itself embroiled in a debate over immigration, we hear the standard arguments for and against. Those favoring a more liberal approach to immigration warn of the economic consequences of turning away low-cost workers. On the other side, we’re warned that immigration itself “costs” too much — ...

Leave Immigrants and Their Employers Alone

by Scott McPherson April 24, 2006

A basic tenet of a free and open society is the right of everyone to try to better his own life. That’s why millions of people come to the United States every year looking for work. For that same reason, people hire them. With mid-term elections on the way, “immigration reform” is ...

What Do You Mean “We”?

by Sheldon Richman April 19, 2006

To say the least, there is tension between the ideas that we live in a free society and that government may determine whom we may sell to, rent to, and hire. This is the real heart of the immigration debate. Who should decide such things, free individuals or the state?

A Free Market in Immigration

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 31, 2006

Once again, the federal government is proposing immigration “reforms” to address the immigration woes that confront our country. The proposals in Congress include extending a fortified “fence” (for some reason, government officials shy away from using the word “wall”) along the Southern border, criminalizing illegal residency, criminalizing assistance given ...

I Celebrated Christmas in a Detention Center

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 10, 2006

Some 30 years ago, I celebrated Christmas in a detention center outside my hometown of Laredo, Texas. The center was entirely devoted to holding illegal aliens, almost all of whom were from Mexico. Before I share this experience with you, I need to place the situation in a larger context. If this background context, however, begins to bore you, ...

Government Perpetuates the Underclass

by Sheldon Richman January 25, 2006

Sunday’s New York Times ran a depressing story about a new study showing that day laborers, most of whom are “illegal aliens,” are often stiffed by employers. Of course, they’re already working in dangerous low-paid construction jobs. The Times reported, “Forty-nine percent of those interviewed said that in the previous two ...

Socialism and Empire, Not Immigration, Are Destroying America

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 20, 2005

A friend recently sent me an article written a couple of years ago entitled “How to Destroy America,” which provided an account of a Washington, D.C., “immigration-overpopulation conference filled to capacity by many of America’s finest minds and leaders.” According to the article, Richard D. Lamm, former governor ...

Minuteman Project Is a Fraud

by Sheldon Richman May 4, 2005

If people who make up the Minuteman Project really want to do something for their country, they should devote their energies to getting rid of the stifling welfare state. Aside from all the good that would do for citizens, it would also ensure that anyone coming here from a ...

Are Illegal Immigrants Criminals? Not!

by Ken Schoolland March 1, 2005

I hear it from some of the nicest people one would ever meet. Some dear friends of mine, whom I respect very much, say that all illegal immigrants are criminals because they broke the laws that control who may come into this country. And since these immigrants are criminals, we don’t want that kind of person here. Such accusations confuse ...

Why No Indictment for Bernard Kerik?

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 15, 2004

Amidst all the hubbub over Bernard Kerik’s decision to remove himself from consideration as director of Homeland Security owing to his reported hiring of an illegal-immigrant nanny, no one, including the press, seems to be asking an important question: Why aren’t the feds seeking a criminal indictment against ...