Following marches of hundreds of thousands of people in late
March, immigration has moved from the back page to the front page
of every major newspaper. Many writers speak of an "invasion,"
or America "under
siege."
This web page will take you about 24 minutes to read (31
minutes if you went to a government-run school). You will learn
something valuable and think about this topic from an entirely
new, fresh perspective.
Immigration policy should not undermine these three
objectives:
Briefly,
- Identity
- The American Identity does not refer to race. America
stands for the idea of "Liberty
Under God." Less government, more personal
responsibility. God-given rights or freedoms.
- Sovereignty
- The American government has a right to exist only if it
protects this identity, the ideal of "Liberty Under
God." There are those who desire more
government, not less, and their immigration policies are
part of their strategy to destroy American sovereignty and
replace the American form of government with a more
"modern" form, of which the
European Union is a model.
- Economy
- The American Economy has been largely capitalist,
and has created the highest standard of living in human
history. Our immigration policies should recognize the power
of competition in a Free Market.
The policies of the Clinton-Bush Era are designed to subvert
all three of these goals. Conservatives who want more federal
forces on our borders, along with fences and laws creating felons,
are hastening the "invasion" of an army that could well
be God's instrument of judgment. Let's look at the three
objectives in more detail:
Preserve the American Identity
If we're facing a judgment, it's because we have repudiated the
original ideals of America, as well as clear Biblical principles.
America's laws were built on God's Laws: The Ten
Commandments and "The
Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" sum up the whole of
America's foundation: the Bible. The immigration policies of all
the major parties -- including third parties like the
Constitution Party -- ignore America's Biblical foundation.
Immigration is a huge theme in the Bible. You may remember
it from your Sunday School class: Israel emigrated to Egypt during
a famine, had favorable status under one Pharaoh, but was
oppressed by a later Pharaoh "who knew not Joseph," and
Israel became in a sense "illegal aliens" in Egypt.
There was a great Exodus, after which God reminded Israel:
Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens
in Egypt.
Exodus 22:21
The stranger who
resides with you shall be to you as the native among you,
and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:34
So show your love for
the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:19
So you shall divide this land among yourselves according to
the tribes of Israel. And it will come about that you shall
divide it by lot for an inheritance among yourselves and
among the aliens who stay in your midst, who bring forth
sons in your midst. And they
shall be to you as the native-born among the sons of
Israel; they shall be allotted an inheritance with you among
the tribes of Israel.
Ezekiel 47:21-22
Many more passages could be cited throughout the Bible.
Evangelical treatment of aliens is a major Biblical theme,
and even the Constitution Party misses it! David Chilton, in his
book Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators,
has done a fine job of summarizing
Biblical law on this issue. You probably should read that
link.
The
Statue of Liberty expresses the essence of the American
vision. It is a beacon to a world of socialism, fascism and
communism.
A plaque with the text of "The New Colossus,"
a sonnet by Emma Lazarus, is mounted on the inner wall of the
pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The title of the poem, and the
first two lines, refer to the Colossus
of Rhodes, one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World. "The Colossus of
Rhodes" represented the thinking of the "New
World Order" of that day, about 300 years before Christ.
America's Statue of Liberty is not about power, or collective
unity arrived at by government coercion.
It is a total repudiation of "the Colossus mentality."
The poem, the statue, and America herself, are an invitation to
the entire world to leave thousands of years of Pharaohs, Caesars,
Czars and Führers in the dustbin of history. In particular, it
invites not just the rich, the powerful, the celebrity, and the
elite to enjoy the benefits of Liberty
in America, but extends an invitation to all the victims and
exiles of tyranny, all those who flee corrupt government and
political oppression. Let Emma's
poem speak to your soul:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"
cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Any immigration policy which does not have this passionate
invitation beating in its heart is cold, tyrannical, and
un-American. If you were a poor Mexican, living under Mexico's
corrupt government, wouldn't you want to live in America? There is
increasing American
indifference to corruption
in other governments, in part because we are indifferent to tyranny
here at home. We increasingly buy into the myth that security
and prosperity come from government restrictions of liberty.
We no longer believe we have any light to offer to those fleeing
the darkness. We close the Golden Door because our own lamp is
unlit.
I've been in the homes of Mexicans which were little more than
sheets of plywood nailed together. If you found yourself in such a
setting, in a nation where the government is in the hip-pocket of
drug cartels, you would take appropriate steps to move your family
to America. What right do I have to keep you from coming here?
On July 9, 1812, President James Madison (the "Father of the
Constitution") proclaimed a day of prayer,
to be set apart for the devout purposes of rendering the
Sovereign of the Universe and the Benefactor of Mankind the public
homage due to His holy attributes; of acknowledging the
transgressions which might justly provoke the manifestations of
His divine displeasure; of seeking His merciful forgiveness and
His assistance in the great duties of repentance and amendment,
that He would inspire all nations with a
love of justice and of concord and with a reverence for the
unerring precept of our
holy religion to do
to others as they would require that others should do to them.
America was once a Christian nation, but we are not practicing
the precepts of "our holy religion" -- to do unto others
as you would have them do unto you. Our current laws against
immigration make the Statue of Liberty and the precepts of the
Christian religion illegal.
Consider how un-American fence-loving conservatives are.
Central to the American vision is the idea that God has created
all people equally, and given them unalienable rights to life,
liberty, and property.
Private Property is the lynchpin of American capitalism.
Now consider this map of two properties owned by Jones and Garcia:
The Jones Ranch 
|
The Garcia Ranchero
|
Suppose Jones invites Garcia over to the Jones
Ranch for a Bar-B-Q. Does Smith have a right to tell Garcia
he doesn't have the liberty to cross the boundary separating
his property from Jones'? Does Smith have right to
tell Jones that he doesn't have the liberty to hire Garcia's
son to work on the Jones Ranch? Does Smith have
the right to tell 300 million Americans that they can't have
certain people on their property or hire certain people in their
businesses? Who owns America: Americans, or Smith?
(Substitute "Bush," "Hillary," "Tom
Tancredo," "House Republicans," or any name of
your choice for "Smith".) "Who
owns America" is the fundamental question here. The
answer is: whoever has rights. Whoever has the right
(power) to decide how property is used owns that property. Did God
give unalienable rights over property to human beings like Jones
and Garcia, or to "the country" (whatever
that is).
Conservative thinking (border patrols and fence-building) is
based on numerous unBiblical socialist and collectivist
assumptions. Let's now look at immigration from a Capitalist, Free
Market perspective:
Promote the American Economy
If our economy is in the tank, it is not because of immigrants. It
is because government confiscates
half of everything Americans produce. It is because we are no
longer a Free Market economy, but a "mixed" socialist
economy. The Soviet Union failed to create the "workers'
paradise" because socialism violates immutable economic laws.
Big
government is immoral. Non-libertarian governments subject
their people to poverty.
There are many people today who believe that immigrants cause
poverty. Free Market economists and statisticians are on the side
of the immigrants, not the fence-builders. Here is a simple
explanation of why.
In 1880 there were 50 million people in America. Ask the
anti-immigrant crowd in 1880 if America could possibly absorb four
times as many people, and they would have said
"absolutely not." But 100 years later, our population
was four times as great (200 million), and the 1980 economy was at
least 100 times larger than the 1880 economy. By 2080 U.S.
population will be 500 million. And if our economy isn't
1000 times larger than it is today, it will be the government's
fault -- and the fault of socialist-thinking anti-immigrant
conservatives, seeking government protection against growth and
change. Christian Capitalism should give us clean, nuclear-powered
cars, genetic engineering should make food almost free, cancer
should be cured, longevity extended, transportation radically
altered ("Beam me up, Scotty!") . . . who can even
imagine the possibilities? And if we have immigrants mowing our
lawns and hammering the nails, the rest of us can develop our
specializations: curing diseases, programming computers,
discovering free energy, and developing the capital infrastructure
that will dramatically increase production and lower prices on
everything. And the next generation of immigrants moves up the
ladder of the division of labor as well, as long as they are not
excluded from gainful employment by federal laws that interfere
with their God-given right to "exercise dominion
over the earth."
Do Immigrants Destroy American Jobs?
Competition benefits everyone, even the one who is
out-competed. Henry Ford out-competed the horse-and-buggy
manufacturers. Obviously we all benefited from cars, but even the
displaced workers in the horse-and-buggy industry ended up living
in a better world. They benefited from decreased transportation
costs, which meant lower prices on everything they bought. Should
the government have protected "America's valuable
horse-and-buggy industry?" Unions and anti-immigrant forces
are competition-phobic. They want their Big Brother the government
to protect them from those mean ol' competitors. They want THEIR
jobs protected at YOUR expense. Is that a
Christian attitude?
Imagine a factory that employs 1,000 Americans to produce a
product that is sold to one million people for $400. Imagine now
that the owner fires all the Americans to hire illegal immigrants,
projecting that he can cut the price of the product by 10% and
increase sales. If you were going to buy this product for $400,
and now discover it at Wal-Mart for $359.95, are you hurt? Suppose
all the displaced Americans at that factory have to find work
elsewhere, and they all take a 10% cut in salary. We can say they
have been hurt. So how do we balance their hurt and your gain?
We simply do the math.
Since the employees were displaced by
illegal immigrants, we'll assume their salary was $30,000/year.
One thousand employees taking a 10% cut in wages = 1000 x $3000 =
$3,000,000. Against this we weigh the benefits of one million
consumers saving 10% on the $400 product. This is $40 x 1,000,000
= $40,000,000. Last time I checked, 40 million is greater than 3
million.
Cheap labor is good for the economy.
Cheap labor is good for your wallet. If America is flooded with
cheap labor, and the price of everything you buy is cut by 10%,
then even if everyone's wages fall by 5% (including yours), we're
all still ahead, because our real
wages have increased. Would you rather earn "one
million dollars" a year in an economy where a loaf of bread
is $1,000, or would you rather earn "ten thousand
dollars" a year in an economy where a loaf of bread is a
penny? What you want is more purchasing power, not
just more "dollars." Cheap labor means lower costs for
producers, lower prices for consumers, and that means you
can buy more with what you earn, no matter how many
"dollars" you earn. That means your standard of
living goes up.
There are too many Americans today who
want the government to use coercion and force to protect their
job, even at the expense of all other Americans. This is unethical
socialist selfishness. This anti-immigrant attitude is
un-American. This is "the Colossus mentality."
Most Americans are ignorant of how capitalism works and why
socialism fails. The Future of Freedom Foundation publishes some
excellent studies on Immigration
Policy. More detailed economic analysis can be found at The
Independent Institute. Finally the work of Julian
Simon is thorough and reliable. All of these sources approach
the immigration issue from a Free Market perspective, which is the
American perspective.
America stands for the proposition that "Liberty
Under God," not government central planning, is the path
to economic prosperity. Capitalism, not socialism, is capable of
taking advantage of cheap labor, and raises the standard of living
for everyone.
- It may seem as if the Bush Administration is less
conservative, more immigrant-friendly. This is deceptive.
Current proposals by the
Bush Administration, including "guest-worker"
programs, and any other specifics that can be gleaned from the
rhetoric, are designed to create "full
mobility of labor" between Mexico and the United
States.
| Our government elites want a North American economic
alliance that will make the border between the United
States and Mexico as unrestricted as the one between
Missouri and Arkansas. (details) |
- This would not be a bad thing in itself, but the Bush plan
involves the creation of a new regional government along
the lines of the European Union, in which the sovereignty of
the United States is submerged into a new system of government
over North America, and eventually a hemispheric government
over the 34 nations of North and South America. Steps in this
plan include the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and
the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).
This new regional government will not be bound down "by
the chains of the Constitution," to use Jefferson's
phrase. The Constitution is nothing more than an
antique.
Any proposal to open borders which entails the transfer of
political power from the Constitution to a new regional
government should be opposed, even by those who favor open
borders. Borders are opened simply by removing obstacles to
immigration, not by creating new unconstitutional structures of
government.
Related (But Unrelated) Issues
- Some oppose immigration because the immigrants get on
government welfare.
- Answer: abolish
government welfare. Whatever government program
immigrants are alleged to take advantage of should be
abolished. The visionary principle of the Statue of Liberty
should not be abolished in order to preserve socialistic
government programs.
-
- "They don't understand English"
- When America was a more Christian nation, Americans
created a vast network of voluntary
social service agencies to meet all immigrants at the
borders or piers and ensure their literacy and familiarity
with American values. Americans need to become re-committed
to the on-going transmission of American values to
immigrants in all areas of life. Read
more about this. Again, this is a problem with Americans
who don't know what their values are and lack the
Christ-like passion and dedication to transmit them to
immigrants. This is not a reason to close the borders.
-
- "Immigrants cause crime."
- Our current immigration policy only allows criminals to
enter the U.S. Consider an analogy based on the Second
Amendment: "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will
have guns." It's true by definition. If you outlaw
immigration, all your immigrants will be outlaws. There are
many immigrants who oppose government corruption, oppose the
corruption caused by gangs and drug dealers, are
hard-working and dependable, but are also law-abiding.
Immigration laws keep these people out.
- In addition, by making it illegal for aliens to work, and
by preventing Bayer
and other pharmaceutical companies from selling drugs like
they used to, thus creating a multi-billion dollar
organized crime industry, the government forces aliens
underground to get their share of high black-market drug
profits.
-
- "We're already over-populated"
- David
Chilton on Immigration and Population
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