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Utah pioneers among 'huddled masses yearning to breathe free'
Libertarians from across the United States recently convened in Portland, Oregon for the party's biannual national convention. Among the big news surrounding the significant trimming of the national platform, a majority of assembled delegates also approved a new immigration plank.
A comparison of the pre- and post-convention immigration planks follows.
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| The Issue: We welcome all refugees to our country and condemn the efforts of U.S. officials to create a new "Berlin Wall" which would keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government's policy of barring those refugees from our country and preventing Americans from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their economic prospects. | The Issue: Our borders are currently neither open, closed, nor secure. This situation restricts the labor pool, encouraging employers to hire undocumented workers, while leaving those workers neither subject to nor protected by the law. A completely open border allows foreign criminals, carriers of communicable diseases, terrorists and other potential threats to enter the country unchecked. Pandering politicians guarantee access to public services for undocumented aliens, to the detriment of those who would enter to work productively, and increasing the burden on taxpayers. |
| The Principle: We hold that human rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of nationality. Undocumented non-citizens should not be denied the fundamental freedom to labor and to move about unmolested. Furthermore, immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race, religion, political creed, age or sexual preference. We oppose government welfare and resettlement payments to non-citizens just as we oppose government welfare payments to all other persons. | The Principle: The legitimate function and obligation of government to protect the lives, rights and property of its citizens, requires awareness of and control over the entry into our country of foreign nationals who pose a threat to security, health or property. Political freedom and escape from tyranny demands that individuals not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries. Economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national borders. |
| Solutions: We condemn massive roundups of Hispanic Americans and others by the federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing required government documents. We strongly oppose all measures that punish employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress free enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from hiring Hispanics. | Solutions: Borders will be secure, with free entry to those who have demonstrated compliance with certain requirements. The terms and conditions of entry into the United States must be simple and clearly spelled out. Documenting the entry of individuals must be restricted to screening for criminal background and threats to public health and national security. It is the obligation of the prospective immigrant to demonstrate compliance with these requirements. Once effective immigration policies are in place, general amnesties will no longer be necessary. |
| Transitional Action: We call for the elimination of all restrictions on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for all people who have entered the country illegally. | Transitional Action: Ensure immigration requirements include only appropriate documentation, screening for criminal background and threats to public health and national security. Simplifying the immigration process and redeployment of surveillance technology to focus on the borders will encourage the use of regular and monitored entry points, thus preventing trespass and saving lives. End federal requirements that benefits and services be provided to those in the country illegally. Repeal all measures that punish employers for hiring undocumented workers. Repeal all immigration quotas. |
Witnessing the new platform language take shape was somehat like observing the legislative process, which has been compared to watching sausage being made.
(Although as Harry Browne has said, at least no one is forced to eat sausage, but we're all forced to obey the law.)
No one is forced to follow the Libertarian Party's platform either, which is a good thing in my view because the new language tolerates too much federal meddling for my taste.
To understand my objection, use the language from the revised immigration plank and envision a federal "Bureau of Compliance with Certain Requirements and Appropriate Documentation" under the Department of Homeland Security. It's an invitation to create regulatory bottlenecks similar to those that contribute to current immigration problems.
That said, I am comfortable enough with the new immigration plank and would trust Libertarians to rewrite the United States Code addressing immigration before turning the task over to the same bipartisan bunch responsible for the present mess.
As the Utah History Encyclopedia notes, "Everyone who has migrated to Utah from another area is, in a sense, an immigrant."
In other words we, or our ancestors, likely exercised the very American and very libertarian right of freedom of movement to get here.
And given the dim view Illinois political leaders had of Mormons during the mid-1800s, one can imagine what might have happened if the pioneers led by Brigham Young had to wait for permission from that state's government officials before immigrating to the Salt Lake Valley.
Yours in liberty,
Rob Latham, Chairman
Libertarian Party of Utah