Brad Warbiany from The Liberty Papers has written a great article on illegal immigration in terms of a classical liberal/libertarian point of view. I’ve quoted what I think are the best and most important statements in the article:

So immigration isn’t really an easy issue. But simple answers, like “close the borders and deport them all” just don’t cut it. I think we can possibly secure the borders, but politically and ethically can’t just send 12 million people home (if we could even find them). Simple answers like “we have no problem with immigration, just illegal immigration” doesn’t work. I could easily say “driving 56 mph in a 55 zone is wrong because it’s illegal”, and that doesn’t answer the question of whether the policy is right, because the numbers of people who desperately want to come here are much, much higher than our immigration quotas. And simple answers like “give them all amnesty” doesn’t work, because it destroys the incentive for people trying to immigrate here to follow our laws. It rewards bad behavior.

We need to ask ourselves what is the right immigration policy for our nation, because only that will tell us how to handle the millions of illegals we currently have here. And when it comes to designing the policy, we need to ask ourselves what kind of a country we are, and what these immigrants truly represent.

Brad is right on the money in his above statements. It’s just not logical to attempt to deport 12 million illegal aliens, but we can’t just give every one of them amnesty. That type of action would destroy any respect for the rule of law, reward illegal behavior, and start a trend of more unlawful behavior.

Last, we do still have the security issue. But liberal immigration policies and secure borders are not mutually exclusive. We can secure the borders and still find to keep tabs on who is coming into this country and how. Perhaps that’s a guest worker program, perhaps that’s a new take on our INS and its goals. That may include a combination of things, with a guest worker program combined with restricted social services for a worker’s family. Either way, the nuts and bolts aren’t insurmountable. If we focused half the energy we spend screwing around with the tax code for special interests on developing coherent immigration and security policies, we could get it done and still have secure borders.

If immigrants want to come to America, we should welcome them into our land of opportunity, but do it in a smart way. We can secure our borders, while allowing people to migrate to our great country and make a better life for themselves. The Congress could allow more liberal immigration quotas and cut regulatory obstructionism in the form of waiting periods and red tape.

Immigration is a thorny issue. But when we stand around and say “we don’t want you here”, I have to break ranks. When they say “these immigrants are damaging our economy”, I have to break ranks. I don’t have all the answers as to how to fix the problem, but I know that I refuse to close our country to people who want to live the American Dream. We have to enforce our laws, but when our laws are contrary to the very fabric of America, those laws need to change.

I agree with Brad’s conclusion in his article. Immigration is a thorny issue, but it is an issue Americans CAN solve. Americans are very welcoming people and respect those who enter the country in a legal manner, but take offense to those who come here by breaking our laws. By having a sound, secure border and a liberal immigration policy, our nation can improve the illegal immigration situation, but keep our borders protected from illegal entry and other crime.

The last few years, the American economy has been through much, including multiple hurricanes, high gas prices, and two major wars. The argument illegal aliens would flood our country with cheap labor and replace Americans on a mass scale is just absurd. The American economy is the greatest economy in the world and I have no doubt our economy would welcome new migrant workers with open arms.

Read the rest of this common sense article at The Liberty Papers.