In this TCS op-ed, Don Boudreaux points out an incongruity in the current political debate over immigration:
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson complained that King George III “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 migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.”
In a related blog post, Professor Boudreaux asks the following:
Why is it that today, the wealthiest time in our history, so many Americans fear immigration? Why do so few Americans today share Jefferson’s understanding that more free people in America mean an even more prosperous America?
Read the entire op-ed.
“Why is it that today, the wealthiest time in our history, so many Americans fear immigration?”
This is simply not the case. Most people only want these immigrants to enter the country legally. We legitimately worry about their assimilation into our culture. Thatís the beginning and end of it. Professor Boudreaux needs to stop with the not so subtle slanderous suggestion that these concerned American are merely red neck bigots.
I quoted that same portion of the Declaration of Independence on Grits July 4. Before the Civil War, immigration control was considered a state’s right and the US had no national immigration law until 1875. It’s clear from my reading of history the Founding Fathers would be horrified at today’s popular immigration positions like those expressed by Mr. Thomson, and the reasons would have nothing to do with “bigotry.” best,
Jefferson and the Civil War were both long before the birth of the welfare state.
The truth is illegal immigrants do not pay taxes and consume significant amounts of government services. Comparing immigration opinions of 100 years ago, when social welfare programs hardly existed, to today is simply unfair.
An extreme example is Norway, which has huge government and a low tolerance for immigration.