Changes in the Libertarian Party Platform
Since 9/11 there have been some significant changes in the Libertarian
Party Platform on the issue of immigration. These changes reflect a move away
from liberty and toward "security"
in an effort to curry favor with non-libertarians who have been fooled by
9/11 into demanding more surveillance and security from the federal
government. (That is not a neutral and un-biased statement of fact; it is an
opinionated jab at the revised Platform.)
- Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a
little Temporary Safety
deserve neither Liberty nor Safety
|
Previously, "Immigration" was under the broader
category of "Individual Rights and Civil Order." It is now under
"Foreign Policy." This is a move away from Libertarian
principles. The right to travel and to work is a fundamental and unalienable
individual right, and should never be subservient to an imperialistic
foreign policy. Libertarians should stand
for a return to a global
economy free of passports, ID cards, checkpoints, and obstacles to
freedom.
Notice how the old Platform was much more Libertarian, while
the new Platform is less concerned with Individual Rights and more concerned
with "security." This
is the same kind of thinking that led many libertarians initially to support
the War in Iraq. "9/11 Fever" was very contagious, but it plays into
the hands of an empire with an insatiable lust for power. We should be able to
see now that libertarian support of "the war on terror" was
short-sighted. We are the Party of Principle, not the party of paranoid
promotion of an imperial presidency.
We must return the Libertarian Party to a forthright defense
of individual liberties and repudiate the demands of the Leviathan State.
| Adopted
in Convention, May 2004, Atlanta,
Georgia
I. Individual Rights and Civil Order
Immigration |
Adopted in Convention, July 2,
2006, Portland Oregon
IV. Foreign Policy
Immigration |
| The
Issue: We welcome all refugees to our country and condemn the
efforts of U.S. officials to create a new "Berlin Wall" which
would keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government's policy of
barring those refugees from our country and preventing Americans from
assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their
economic prospects. |
The
Issue: Our borders are
currently neither open, closed, nor secure. This situation
restricts the labor pool, encouraging employers to hire undocumented
workers, while leaving those workers neither subject to nor protected by
the law. A completely open
border allows foreign criminals, carriers of communicable diseases,
terrorists and other potential threats to enter the country unchecked.
Pandering politicians guarantee access to public services for
undocumented aliens, to the detriment of those who would enter to work
productively, and increasing the burden on taxpayers. |
| The
Principle: We hold that human rights should not be denied or
abridged on the basis of nationality. Undocumented non-citizens should
not be denied the fundamental freedom to labor and to move about
unmolested. Furthermore, immigration must not be restricted for reasons
of race, religion, political creed, age or sexual preference. We oppose
government welfare and resettlement payments to non-citizens just as we
oppose government welfare payments to all other persons. |
The
Principle: The legitimate
function and obligation of government to protect the lives, rights and
property of its citizens, requires awareness of and control over the
entry into our country of foreign nationals who pose a threat to
security, health or property. Political freedom and escape from
tyranny demands that individuals not be unreasonably constrained by
government in the crossing of political boundaries. Economic freedom
demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital
across national borders. |
| Solutions:
We condemn massive roundups of Hispanic Americans and others by the
federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing required
government documents. We strongly oppose all measures that punish
employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress free
enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from
hiring Hispanics. |
Solutions:
Borders will be secure, with
free entry to those who have demonstrated compliance with certain
requirements. The terms and conditions of entry into the United
States must be simple and clearly spelled out. Documenting
the entry of individuals must be restricted to screening for criminal
background and threats to public health and national security. It
is the obligation of the prospective immigrant to demonstrate compliance
with these requirements. Once effective immigration policies are in
place, general amnesties will no longer be necessary. |
| Transitional
Action: We call for the elimination of all restrictions on
immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for all people
who have entered the country illegally. |
Transitional
Action: Ensure immigration requirements include only appropriate
documentation, screening for criminal background and threats to public
health and national security. Simplifying the immigration process
and redeployment of surveillance
technology to focus on the borders will encourage the use of regular
and monitored entry points, thus preventing trespass and saving
lives. End federal requirements that benefits and services be provided
to those in the country illegally. Repeal all measures that punish
employers for hiring undocumented workers. Repeal all immigration
quotas. |
Webpages in this series:
- 1. Immigration Homepage
- 2. Immigration in a
Division of Labor Economy
- 3. Why Immigration
Enhances Our Culture
- 4. Why Immigration
Increases Our Technology
- 5. Positive Effects of
Population Growth through Immigration
- 6. The Case for Free
Immigration
- 7. Refutation of the
Arguments Against Free Immigration
- 8. Why Immigration
Increases Capital
- 9. Why Immigration
Raises Real Wage Rates
- 10. Legalized
Immigration Does Not Destroy Our Culture
- 11. A Biblical
Discussion about Immigration with Chuck Baldwin
- 12. The Downward
Shift in the Libertarian Party Platform, 2002-2006
- 13. Why
Anti-Immigration Laws are Unconstitutional
- Recent Blog Posts:
- Ann
Coulter on Immigration
- Immigration
and the LP Platform
- Welfare
and Immigration
- Immigration
and Gun Control
- Greene
County Libertarians: Immigration
- Immigrants:
Your Country Needs Them
- Immigration
and Health Care
- Immigration
and the War on [Some] Drugs
- The
Criminal Culture of Immigrants
- The
Benefits of 40 Million Illegal Aliens
- The
Immigration Issue Takes to the Streets
-
- Ozarks Virtual Town Hall
- Ozarks Virtual Town
Hall - May 12, 2007
- Ozarks Virtual Town
Hall - May 19, 2007
- Ozarks Virtual
Town Hall - June 09, 2007
- Ozarks Virtual
Town Hall - June 23, 2007
- In the Next Two Years, Congress should:
- expand, or at least maintain, current legal immigration quotas;
- increase permanently the number of H-1B visas and deregulate
employment-based immigration to facilitate the entry of skilled
immigrants;
- remove the new one-year time limit on filing for political asylum
and reform the "expedited removal" laws;
- repeal employer sanctions;
- stop the move toward a computerized national identification system
and the use of government-issued documents, such as birth
certificates and Social Security cards, as de facto national ID
cards; and
- reduce restrictions on the movement of workers within the North
American Free Trade Agreement area.
|
By the end of the
decade, Congress should:
- Abolish all anti-immigration laws.
As soon as possible, America should:
- Create 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.
- Commit to on-going transmission of American values to immigrants
in all areas of life. Read more
about this.
|
Julian Simon:
next: Immigration in a
Division of Labor Economy
|
