“Globally, migrant workers send home hundreds of billions every year, more than all foreign aid combined…The bottom line is that open borders has jaw-dropping potential to enrich migrants and natives alike. The logic is sound: trapping talent in the outskirts of the world economy impoverishes us all. Contrary to popular fears, open borders is a shortcut to global prosperity.” – Open Borders
“America First” began as a non-interventionist foreign policy response that extended back to President Wilson during WWI and the America First Committee which opposed US intervention in WWII. Its meaning, however, was recently expanded to address the negative impact of trade agreements and other international policy pacts. Donald Trump campaigned and won his first election on this nationalist strategy. But Trump’s idea of “America First” took an unfortunate turn when he added immigration, both legal and illegal.
America’s first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation, placed the immigration and naturalization of citizens at each state’s discretion. By 1892, Ellis Island was open for business, processing and accepting over 80 percent of immigrants within a few hours without any paperwork. With only a cursory glance at disease and illness, millions would enter the United States. On this practice, America prospered. Then in 1924, the Immigration Act began restricting immigration from non-Northwestern European countries, with Asians the primary target. Limits were set on certain countries in an attempt to preserve American homogeneity. These quotas remained until 1965 when the National Origin Formula was abolished for good.
Today there are nearly 45 million foreign-born immigrants in the US, totaling 14 percent of the population; including one-quarter who are here illegally. For partisans concerned about immigrants crowding our country, the US is the third largest landmass in the world behind Russia and Canada, with over 80 percent of the population residing in cities on just 3 percent of the entire land.
A Gallop World survey recently found that 158 million people currently desire to come to America for their own shot at freedom. The prize so valuable that immigration “coyotes” can earn billions of dollars a year smuggling hundreds of people a day over our border. First-world migration has become so limited and difficult, that coyote services are worth their extravagant price. Immigrants come largely for higher-paid work, something that is hard to find in their native countries, choosing America for its freedom and opportunity. Yet, because the average wait time to become a legal citizen is now more than five years, some see fit to take matters into their own hands.
Economists agree that allowing the free movement of labor has the potential to double the worldwide Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With the world’s GDP in 2019 totaling over 87 trillion, one can only imagine the benefit an additional 87 trillion would bring. Moving low-skilled workers to wealthy countries immediately makes them more productive, creating more goods and services for world consumption. In the US, immigrants are responsible for 25 percent of new businesses and are more likely to become entrepreneurs than their native counterparts.
In 2017, immigrants remitted more than $625 billion back to their home countries, $148 billion from US immigrants alone. That same year, the US spent nearly $50 billion in foreign aid, taken from taxpayers without their permission. With a replacement rate 16 percent lower than the amount necessary to replenish its population, the former is clearly better than the latter. When factoring in declining fertility rates in the US, additional workers will be needed to fill the slack.
In Bryan Caplan’s 2019 non-fiction graphic novel, “Open Borders”, Caplan provides a comprehensive review of immigration and its economic impact on the world’s nations. Advocating for unrestricted immigration to all wealthy countries, he starts by addressing common fears expressed by its opponents. These fears include lower wages for natives, a lack of assimilation into Western culture, abuse of the welfare system, and crime. While refuting some of these charges outright, Caplan also suggests alternative policies that would be preferable to outright bans on immigration. These include higher taxes on immigrants, restricting eligibility for government programs, and language requirements. Whatever the complaint, Caplan shows how any negative impact by immigrants, is the exception, rather than the rule.
Borders should not be used as a barrier to trade. International trade is not just about the sale of goods and services, but labor as well. By extending our Constitutional rights to all, we offer all men the same equality of opportunity, each with the freedom to live and work wherever one chooses. If an employer wants to hire an immigrant or foreigner, they should be able to do so without restriction, because the right to contract is a basic tenet of our Constitution.
President Ronald Reagan, in his parting speech to America, famously recalled a story that took place in the South China Sea. An American Naval ship came upon a small boat of refugees fleeing from their oppressive country. While being rescued, one of the refugees, locking eyes with an American sailor, smiled, and yelled, “Hello, freedom man!” Freedom is a gift to be shared. Open borders extend our God-given freedom to all.
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