Notes and Summary of the Broadcast
PRESIDENT BUSH:
"Reforming our immigration system is an important
opportunity to show that elected officials in Washington can
work together to find practical solutions to the
problems that matter most. ... I am optimistic we can
pass a comprehensive immigration bill and get this problem
solved for the American people this year." [read
more] [listen]
A Libertarian Response:
Kevin Craig's Platform: Immigration
The 2004 Libertarian Party Platform: Immigration
The 2006 Libertarian Party Platform: Immigration
What are the "the problems that matter most" when
it comes to immigration? What should matter most
to Americans?
If we judge by polls and blogs, what matters most is jobs
and "security."
- Jobs - immigrants are often willing to charge
employers less money for their labor. This competition
worries those who want to be paid more by their
employers. Anti-immigrationists want the government to
keep immigrants from competing against them. Anti-immigrationists
want the government to compel employers to hire anti-immigrationists,
even if employers would rather pay lower wages so they can
charge lower prices for the finished product.
- Security - an immigrant just might be a
terrorist. The rights of all immigrants to flee corrupt
dictatorships and work to support their families should be
restricted in order to screen out any immigrants who might
possibly someday maybe be a terrorist. The "War on
Terror" (foreign policy) trumps the rights of all
non-violent immigrants.
In response, we should note:
- Low-wage immigrants raise our standard of living, as
Prof. George Reisman and other Free-Market economists have
shown (see our immigration
series).
- Washington D.C.'s foreign policy, involving military
coups and destruction of the middle east in an attempt to
protect oil industry profits, has changed America from a
nation admired by all to a nation feared and
despised, leaving us less secure from fanatic vengeful
attacks.
What should matter most to Americans is preservation of our
God-given rights, rights which were also given by God to those
of other nations. The freedom to travel, to flee corrupt
dictatorships, seek employment, and engage in "the
pursuit of happiness" is being attacked by immigration
laws. The anti-immigration culture threatens the rights not
only of immigrants, but of American citizens.
America was built on a foundation of "self-evident
truths." Among these truths is the fact that we are
created by God and our rights come from God, not the
government. Whatever the Republicrats and Demoblicans can do
with the God-given rights of immigrants, they can do to
natural-born U.S. citizens. If the government can violate the
Fourth Amendment rights of immigrants, it can do so to U.S.
citizens -- and this is in fact what is happening.
Congress is not going to close the borders, like the anti-immigrationists
want.
The leadership of both Democrats and Republicans is working
to abolish all borders in North America, in a plan modeled
after the European
Union. Nobody heard the term "European Union" 20
years ago, but the architects of the EU recently threw
themselves a 50th Birthday Party. In their minds, the European
Union began 50 years ago with an innocuous trade agreement
creating the "European Coal and Steel Community."
Today the EU represents the abolition of sovereign nations and
creation of a regional central state.
President Bush entered into an
agreement with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin which is for North America what
that trade agreement 50 years ago was for Europe. It is the
abolition of the United States as a sovereign nation.
There will be no immigration problem
between the U.S. and Mexico under this agreement, because
the border between the U.S. and Mexico will be as
superfluous as the border between Missouri and Arkansas.
This means all talk about "reforming" our
immigration laws is disingenuous. It is political talk
designed for upcoming elections.
The President says he wants an immigration policy which
makes us "secure," "competitive," is
"orderly," and "welcoming." He mentioned
five issues that he says must be considered by the drafters of
needed reform:
- 1. Security
- Only another Berlin Wall can hope to provide
"security."
- 2. Employers must be able to know who is legal (a subtle
call for "Real ID")
- A
National ID Bill Masquerading as Immigration Reform by
Rep. Ron Paul
- 3. Temporary worker program - legal orderly way to fill
jobs Americans are not doing.
- Bush does not agree with those who believe immigrants
hurt Americans.
- 4. Legalize the illegal
- Eventually, all Mexicans will be legally present in the
"North American Union." Bush is not going to
deport them.
- 5. Melting pot - assimilation
- To what should Mexican immigrants be
assimilated? The correct answer should be: the
constitutional ideals of "Liberty
Under God." But Bush
and Washington D.C. have long ago repudiated these ideals.
They don't defend the Constitution or our God-given
rights. Immigrants will assimilate the values of statist
regulation (rather than "Liberty") and autonomy
("ye shall be as gods").
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,
4 July 1776: -- He has endeavoured to prevent the
population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the
Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others
to encourage their migration hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
The Democrat Party Radio Address: Major
General Melvyn S. Montano, U.S. Air Force (Ret.)
- The federal government was unable to respond effectively
to the disaster in Greensburg, Kansas, because too many
National Guard units were fighting an unnecessary war in
Iraq.
Libertarian Response to Democrats: In the U.S.
Constitution, "We the People" did not delegate any
authority to the Federal Government to respond to tornados in
Kansas and "rebuild the local economy." This is a
job for non-profit relief organizations, churches, charities,
and businesses.
Davy Crockett: "Not
Yours to Give"
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