Now that I’ve spent a few posts pontificating on the virtues of free market competition and individual accountability – showing my true conservative colors – I’d like to rant for a moment about one of the reasons I still can’t quite call myself a Republican. Instead I continue my ineffectual crusade as an Independent. Before I begin, I’d like to ask in advance that you read this with an open mind and a commitment not to be offended. I doubt many people are reading this blog, but would guess that anyone who is probably knows me and is possibly of a conservative political mindset. If you’re a Republican, you may not like what I have to say on the matter of immigration. (And another advance warning, this post is long, but no one is making you read it unless you’re my wife.) With that said, I started this blog mostly for my own benefit to articulate what I think of the world around me – and fully expect it to be full of political, religious, and other controversial topics – so I’ll stop apologizing and just say what I think. I welcome comments to hear your thoughts.

So you know where I stand, I am vehemently opposed to the new Arizona immigration law. I understand Arizona’s frustration and desire to take matters into their own hands because of federal inaction, but the the problem in my opinion is much deeper. Many people have a problem with illegal immigration simply because it’s illegal. Let me start by making it clear that illegal isn’t necessarily wrong. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., broke the law, as did George Washington and all our Founding Fathers. Breaking an unjust law is by no means wrong, in fact it’s often an act of courage that creates a better world for those too afraid to do so. Those are extreme examples I know, but they make the point, illegal doesn’t mean wrong when the law isn’t right. If I was unable to support my family in a poor country with bad governance and had no way to change it, I know I’d do everything I could to alter my circumstances, just as our ancestors did when they left oppressive European countries. And if my family was starving while I had to wait for years to maybe get a visa approved (the wait time really is in years, consult congressional studies if you don’t believe me), then I would most assuredly take my chances to “illegally” cross a border to fulfill my responsibility to my family. Perhaps not every story of undocumented aliens is so noble, but I’ll discuss the reasons why people “illegally” come to this country later. For now, let’s talk about why today’s immigration policy is an unjust law worthy to be broken.

The foundational problem is that immigration control in any form is contrary to what I believe this nation stands for–it’s immoral, and it’s fundamentally based in racism. I don’t believe that those who support strict immigrations controls are racist by any means, in fact that’s why I feel so strongly about the topic. The course of immigration policy in this nation has been so misguided and contrary to our own values that now well-intentioned, good hearted people are supporting policies that I believe violate our heritage and American ideals. So let me start at the beginning, when this country was founded and there were no immigration controls. At that time, anyone who was willing to put forth the effort to come to this land could do so, regardless of their numbers, nation of origin, color of skin, or language, a policy that continued for over a hundred years. Citizenship and voting rights were limited in that time, mostly based on race, but the right to enter and work in this country was not. The first immigration controls came as a racist response to the large number of Asian migrants in the 1880’s. Immigration controls based on race persisted, mostly against Asians, utilizing quotas or exclusions for various countries, until most were abolished beginning in the 1940s and finally by the Immigration Act in 1965. There have always been economic or practical arguments in support of immigration controls, but I believe that history has proven that these were not the primary motivation. Instead, immigration policy has been founded on the erroneous thinking that our national identity should be based on our ethnic heritage and a fear that identity will be eroded by those from other cultures.

This is where I believe the foundation of the problem lies – our national identity. I’ve always believed that the basis of our national identity was a people who believed in freedom and equality of opportunity, regardless of the circumstance of your birth – and that it had nothing to do with your ties to the English language or European heritage. It seems to me that the concept of immigration control began with those who didn’t share this line of thinking. Perhaps I’m wrong, perhaps immigration control all along really has been about good economics and practical policy making to ensure the greatest good for all. I’ll get to that hypothetical in a moment, but for now let’s consider the more common contemporary argument that although in may have been about racism in the past, it’s not anymore. I won’t spend too much time with this line of thinking since I believe it’s a ridiculous argument. Simply altering the wording of a racist policy and declaring it is now a matter of practicality is just absurd. It’s the same kind of mindset that rationalized segregation – Blacks were “equal” but as a matter of practicality could not be integrated into White society…. We used to not let Brown or Yellow people into this country because of racism, but now it’s a matter of practicality and economics…that just doesn’t fly with me. If it was based in racism and contrary to the fundamental premises of this nation (all men are created equal) then it ought to be removed, not altered; apologized for, not rationalized; moved beyond, not lingered upon.

I hope you would agree that there is no room in this nation for racism in any form. If so, then the only rationalization left for immigration control is based on some kind of utilitarian concept of the greatest good for all, that we must limit the number of people that come into this country to prevent some great calamity or injustice to those already here. What I believe has happened in this nation is that many people who would never support racism in any form have now come to believe that immigration control is a politically and economically necessary policy – and they’ve been convinced of it by those who are confused about our national identity, those believing this country’s strength is in it’s European heritage and ethnic homogeneity rather than it’s commitment to freedom and equal opportunity. So if I haven’t convinced you that immigration control is unjust, unethical, and un-American, let me try to persuade you that it’s unnecessary and just bad policy. (Policy is supposedly the one thing I’m trained to know anything about if the Kennedy School of Government was worth the tuition.)

First, let’s talk about why people “illegally” come to America. Clearly there are an infinite number of reasons, but the argument over immigration often boils down to which you believe is dominant. There are likely some of the noble variety that are willing to risk personal isolation, danger, and fear with the hope of giving their current or future family greater opportunities and security through their dedication and hard work – finding no ability to do so in their home country or reasonable hope of legally entering this country in the foreseeable future. There are inevitably some who come with malignant intentions, whether it’s to do harm or profit from vice. Everyone else is likely somewhere on the continuum between those two: those who seek the benefits of a “welfare” society (at least when compared to the one they left), those that come here temporarily and and unable or unwilling to renew their permits, those who are trying to do well for themselves or families and make some mistakes, those who simply felt they had no other option, and those who tired of separation from family members across borders. I know I’m biased on the issue, but I tend to believe that the kind of people that want to mooch off a welfare system aren’t the kind of people that go through the effort to move themselves or their families across borders. Laziness is usually accepting current circumstances, not acting to change them. Isn’t it more likely that the vast majority of people coming to this country are those that take great risks and put forth great effort in hopes of better opportunities – just the kind of people that founded this nation and keep it strong today? But maybe I’m wrong, and even if I was right it’d be hard to prove. So let’s just assume that we have some of all kinds of people trying to enter our nation. With that in mind, one of the most important tasks when creating an effective policy should be distinguishing between these different groups, in simple terms we’d like to let the good ones in and keep the bad ones out. Unfortunately the partisan nature of this country causes us to spend our time trying to convince each other that there’s little middle ground and nearly everyone is either in one camp or the other. So instead let’s think about a practical policy that ensures our national interests in security and economic growth.

Next, lets talk about security, something near and dear to most Republicans’ hearts. Appealing to the NRA members of the party, I’d like to make a quick analogy. Don’t most conservatives agree that we should make the process of buying a gun easier and more transparent, knowing that stringent laws only make it more difficult for those law abiding citizens that should own guns while those that shouldn’t have them just circumvent the law anyway? If you had to wait four years to maybe get a permit to own a gun that you are Constitutionally entitled to, do you think you might be more likely to circumvent the system and obtain an unregistered weapon? In the same light, wouldn’t it make sense to make immigration easy and transparent, making it much less likely for the well intentioned to go outside the law and thus easier to identify those with truly malignant intentions that will always avoid the legal process? From a security standpoint, good immigration policy demands that entering this nation should be a transparent, straightforward, timely process with a simple background check for past criminal behavior or information that might identify the individual as a threat. (Hopefully Constitutional rights and foundational legal principles like due process, presumption of innocence, and protection from unreasonable search and seizure come to mind and are applied universally to all human beings.) The lack of such incriminating evidence alone should be sufficient qualification for entering this nation – and doing so in a timely manner – and anything less just isn’t true to the principles upon which this nation is founded.

So now that I have hopefully convinced you that both ethics and security demand that we make the process of entering this nation simple, open, and timely rather than trying to shut the doors, seal the cracks, and exclude the masses – I’ll try to make the case that a much more open immigration policy is also good economics. I’ll start with the big picture and work down to the details. First and foremost – open markets promote wealth, that’s day one of every course in international trade and the basis of the free market. That applies to the labor market just as much as any goods market, which means we shouldn’t restrict people from coming to this country to work. Restricting the free movement of goods or labor in general in a bad economic idea. Granted, free markets can have some negative side effects and we need to deal with those, but the default position from an economic point of view should be openness. Next, no matter how convoluted one tries to make economic growth – everything we know about the subject teaches us that long term growth is a result of four simple things: land, labor, capital, & technology. Our country is obsessed with the short term to the detriment of our posterity – but the simplicity of long term growth is relatively undisputed. Productivity increases with an increase in these four things – thus more labor means more output. I’ll take about the short term consequences of a major increase in the labor force shortly, but for now know that more people means more work and more output. We see this long term trend in the slowing of the Japanese and European markets due to aging societies and a reduction in labor. The American economy has remained dynamic in large part due to the influx of workers from immigration. There are some economic concerns with immigration that have merit and have become the biggest fear of its opponents. First, immigrating workers will drive down wages – and this is essentially true and worthy of concern in the short run. However, in the long run, the decrease in the price of labor will increase output, generating more wealth which creates more jobs. Like everything about the free market, adjustment can be temporarily painful but is necessary for long term growth and the dynamism that has made this nation an economic superpower. We have minimum wages and unemployment policies that help cushion this adjustment, but the fact is that an increase in the labor force will eventually lead to increased entrepreneurship and wealth, due largely to the fact that competition – the fundamental catalyst of free market growth – will increase in the labor market. I do believe that like all economic policy changes, this should be gradual – we shouldn’t open the flood gates of the labor market in a single day as that will create a huge shock to the system. But we should, for the benefit of our economy, allow increasing free movement of labor at a rate that our economy can absorb. I believe, because I believe in the entrepreneurial roots of our culture, that we’ll find our economy quite capable of absorbing that new labor quicker than most would think. As entrepreneurs see the increased supply of labor from immigration they will find new products and industries profitable and the market will quickly return to equilibrium with increased output – meaning everyone is better off in the long run.

Some people also worry that immigrants are sending wealth back to their families across our borders. Isn’t this America, don’t we believe an individual who earns money has the right to do whatever he/she wants with it? Do we complain about Americans spending their money in Europe or Mexico on vacation? Do we think it’s wrong that Americans earn money in other countries and spend it here? That just seems contrary to everything American in my opinion. Even if you think it’s a big deal that money flows from our incredibly blessed nation to our much less fortunate neighbors, rest assured that these flows of money only make it more likely that those countries will buy more American goods and send fewer workers to America.

Now let me turn to a more personal concern that many have with immigration, the very real fear that not only will wages be lowered, but American citizens will lose their jobs and livelihoods due to immigration. While this is possible in some cases, just as it’s possible for any of us to lose our jobs in a changing international market, from a policy standpoint we must look at the prevailing forces. How is it that undocumented aliens are finding work in America? If any employer had his choice between two individuals, one an American citizen and another here “illegally” but otherwise equal, the choice would be clear. There is much less risk in hiring the legal citizen. So it’s clear that immigrants are not “taking” jobs from Americans, but filling positions that for some reason aren’t being filled by our citizens. What other reason would an employer take such a risk? Is it because it’s cheaper to pay an employee not filing taxes? The employer could just as easily and illegally pay an American citizen under the table. Is it about language or culture? Clearly it’s easier to hire someone in this country that speaks English, is able to obtain a driver’s license, and is familiar with our culture. Is it just that the immigrant is willing to work for less? If the money is enough for an immigrant to work for why is it not enough for the American citizen? Are they not paying the same costs of living to be in America? Are they not doing the same amount of work? Does the American deserve more money for doing the same work just because he was born in this country? It’s the nature of the free market that if someone else is willing to sell the same product (or labor) as you of the same quality for less money then yours won’t be purchased (or hired), and to restrict that would be contradictory to everything our society is based upon. If immigrants feel like the work is worth the money, worth living in fear and isolation after leaving everything they’ve known, then why isn’t it worth it to Americans? The simple fact is that undocumented aliens are being hired despite the inherent risks because Americans are not willing to do the same work, and no policy can solve an unwillingness to work. I am completely convinced that if a legal citizen is willing to work just as hard and reliably as an undocumented alien then the job will go to the American citizen 100% of the time. If Americans want to get higher wages or be more employable then they need to compete like everyone else, working hard, being reliable, and obtaining education. It’s infinitely easier to obtain education and training for legal citizens of this nation (which offers scholarships, grants, loans, and free education to nearly anyone that needs it) than anyone else, so I just don’t understand what Americans have to fear other than the prospect of hard work, the very thing upon which our nation was built and needs to continue to thrive.

Now to a second side note – English. Many people that think immigrants should have to speak English. First of all, we specifically and intentionally have no national language in this country. Second, who cares? I can see why speaking English might be considered as a prerequisite to citizenship and voting rights, but I’m not talking about granting citizenship to everyone, just giving the fundamental right to live and work within our borders. (In fact, I am partial to the idea that even those born in America should maybe be held to a higher standard before they are allowed the incredible responsibility of casting a vote in the affairs of our nation – I’m sure there are many Americans that couldn’t pass the tests my grandmother had to take to earn her right to vote and citizenship as an American.) How would the hundreds of American workers in multinational corporations feel about having to learn Chinese to work in China? I’m pretty sure our State Department and public would throw an absolute fit if China or anyone else proposed the idea. Everyone in this country has to obey the law, whether they can read it or not, just as Americans in other countries are subject to their laws. Residents of this country have all the incentive in the world to learn English, it makes them more employable and more capable of standing up for their rights. Despite that, if they choose not to learn English, or are unable to do so because they’re too busy working 18 hours a day at a minimum wage job to give their children the opportunity at a good education (to include learning English), what does it matter to the rest of us? I would love to live in a culture that, like Europe, has many languages and gives us all the opportunity to broaden our horizons. If we aren’t making immigrants learn English we most definitely won’t make anyone else learn Spanish – but for those of us that believe education is more about understanding our world than sitting in a classroom, we’d have a great opportunity to learn from the different languages around us, making us more employable and educated in the world economy. From an economic standpoint, it makes a lot of sense for us to become a bilingual country like most other nations already are.

One last topic before I conclude. (You and I both thought this post would never end.) Many people argue against increased immigration because of the apparent problems created of those already here. I’ll talk about a few of the problems in detail, but I’d like to propose that the problems either don’t exist or would be mostly solved by offering amnesty to those who are here illegally but have not committed serious crimes. The first major problem is the use of public services by those not paying for them. Some undocumented workers do pay taxes, and those who don’t are mostly just afraid of identifying themselves to the government. If we remove the fear from the equation by granting amnesty, they have have the exact same incentives to pay or not pay taxes as every American citizen. The IRS can deal with aliens who don’t pay taxes just as they do with American citizens and we’d have an instant increase in tax revenue because everyone would be on the books – we wouldn’t have 10 million people working but not paying taxes because they’re afraid of deportation, we’d just have the few crazies in Idaho & New Hampshire trying to stick it to the IRS. The second major issue is crime, some people have the false notion that more immigration means more crime. There was a much quoted completely inaccurate statistic about the number of illegal immigrants in prisons that circulated from a popular conservative not too long ago that fueled this rumor. The empirical evidence does not show that immigrants are any more likely to commit crime than anyone else, and that’s a plain and simple fact. Giving amnesty and legal residency conditional on lack of criminal behavior would be a powerful incentive to reduce crime – I wish American citizens had to fear being sent to a third world country if they commit serious crimes. Even if it were true that immigrants were more likely to commit crimes, that problem would be helped by no longer isolating the population. People typically commit crimes when their options are reduced – when they feel they cannot live a reasonable life within the law. Once again amnesty would reduce fear and isolation, thus increasing the options and reducing crime.

In conclusion let me tell you what I think immigration policy should look like. I believe the quotas for work visas and permanent residents should be significantly increased every year at as fast a rate as our economy can absorb and more resources should be dedicated to lower the wait time for applicants from years to days. Those who have been in this nation “illegally” should be granted amnesty and legal status so long as they haven’t committed serious crimes. The process of obtaining citizenship shouldn’t change, there’s nothing unjust about proving loyalty to this country and meeting certain standards before having the right to vote. Once we have removed the justifications for being here illegally and opened the labor market I believe we’ll find much more support for seriously enforcing the laws currently in existence against hiring undocumented workers and not paying taxes. (As far as how we enforce those laws, that’s the subject of another post about privacy and why we expect our government to enforce the law when we as a public are so afraid of giving it information.) I believe we’ll also find it much easier to patrol our borders when the masses of good-intentioned people find it easy to legally enter the country through the gates and the only ones trying to sneak across the fences are the few true criminals. I believe we’ll only get to this point when we recognize that those trying to enter our country and work today shouldn’t be held to any different standard than our ancestors were – and in fact today’s immigrants often have more in common with our ancestors than we do. Their ethnic identity, national heritage, and skin color may be different, but they share the desire to defy injustice, work hard to support their family, and improve their circumstances for their posterity. Let us, as American citizens by birth and because of the sacrifices of those before us rather than our own efforts, not believe we are entitled to anything more than those born under less fortunate circumstances. We have no more right to the blessings of this nation, the blessings secured by great men and women before us, than any other individual on this earth. Let us not be afraid of ethnic and linguistic diversity, but welcome it and believe in our system of government, believing not in rule by Caucasian, but in rule by the people, regardless of the ethnicity or color of its majority.