Summary: The Left’s adoption of open borders is one of the major – if unremarked – political developments in modern America. The Daily Signal is a far-right voice, but this article captures some of the dynamics of this event. The decisions we make now will ripple out through future generations.
“The Left Goes Full Open Borders“
By Jarrett Stepman (editor). At the Daily Signal, 26 October 2018.
It wasn’t long ago that both sides of the aisle believed America’s border laws should be enforced. As President Donald Trump pointed out on Twitter, even former President Barack Obama, at least rhetorically, said that illegal immigrants couldn’t be let into the country en masse and without restrictions. (He said that as a senator.)
I agree with President Obama 100%! pic.twitter.com/PI3aW1Zh5Q
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2018
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, and lawfully to become immigrants into this country,” Obama said. This dynamic has dramatically shifted, as the American left now increasingly sees any level of border enforcement as beyond the pale.
The migrant caravans originating in Honduras and heading north to the U.S. border are testing just how far the left will go in embracing this new narrative. The position Obama held just over a decade ago is now considered offensive in some circles. Some are even demanding that the U.S. let the caravan into the United States.
“Every one of these people are coming from a real fear. These are refugees,” Cambridge, Massachusetts Mayor Marc McGovern said, according to the Boston Herald. “These are people who really are facing real problems and we have to let them through.” The left is sending a message that concern over unchecked immigration is illegitimate. Yet this is out of step with the American people in general. Americans are clearly divided when it comes to the issue of immigration. Some want more high-skilled immigrants, others don’t. Some think a wall is necessary for border security, others don’t.
But one thing that Americans tend to agree on, strongly, is the idea that we have a right to control our border and determine who comes into the country. This belief flows from the concept that we are a sovereign nation that must maintain law and order for the safety of everyone.
The idea that thousands of people can just arrive at the border, demand entrance to the United States, and possibly force their way in by overwhelming U.S. authorities offends our idea that America is a nation of laws, and it undermines the idea that the American people have the right to set their own immigration policies.
America has very specific laws regarding legal immigration and asylum – which generally only applies in cases of state-based repression. Allowing a gaggle of thousands of people into this country with little oversight and little legal standing would only encourage more of this sort of tactic.
This worry is fueled by an increasingly aggressive left-wing stance that any level of border enforcement is tantamount to racism and nativism. This view is no longer held by just a few radicals. It is increasingly the stance of more mainstream progressives and Democrats. Earlier this year, the call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, morphed into a mainstream movement embraced by prominent Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
One can see how this public position actually encourages more illegal immigration, including the massive caravans.
As The Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst for Latin America, Ana Quintana noted, many of these migrants have been manipulated by South American left-wing parties into believing this is their path to the United States. It’s a political tactic used to sow chaos, and unfortunately puts lives at risk – including the migrants who travel thousands of miles through dangerous locations to get to the U.S. border. “This caravan antic is right out of the left’s disorder and chaos playbook,” Quintana wrote. “The timing before the U.S.’s midterm elections and the change of presidency in Mexico is not coincidental. It is also clear the caravan organizers are more interested in creating turmoil than the well-being of the migrants.”
We are paying the price of the world believing we won’t enforce our border laws.
The issue now at stake with the caravan is not merely immigration, but whether the United States is in fact a sovereign country whether the American people have the power to decide their immigration laws, and whether our government will – enforce those decisions.
All of this shows just how far progressives have moved away from the mainstream when it comes to immigration.
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Editor’s conclusions
For an example of the Left’s love of open borders, see Matt Taibbi’s new article: “How do you solve an issue like xenophobia?” As in the Soviet Union, disagreement with the Left’s beliefs is mental illness. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Left said that increased population would destroy us. Now they advocated open borders to boost the population. Much of Taibbi’s article is intellectually dishonest, such as this.
“Meanwhile, here in America, the entire country is up in arms about a caravan of 7,000 people who actually want to come here.”
He pretends not to understand that allowing in a few caravans means that many more will come. This process has already begun. Our current border security and immigration machinery is already overwhelmed. Plus, of course, the cost of admitting so many dirt-poor and poorly educated people.
As for the reasons to open the borders, most of them are based on lies (see links in the next section). This has become today’s defining political issue.
- Immigration is the key political battle of our time.
- The Democrats will open the borders & make a New America.
For More Information
Ideas! For some shopping ideas, see my recommended books and films at Amazon.
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See about immigration, and especially these…
- Essential reading: See the hidden history of immigration into America (it ruins the narrative).
- Migration from the south into America: new people, new foods, new political systems.
- Immigration as a reverse election: our leaders get a new people.
- Look at immigration policy to see our government respond to its masters.
- Trump wants to defend our borders. Democrats protest.
- The lies about immigration keeping the borders open.
- Debunking the hysteria about kids in concentration camps.
- Important: Diversity is a grand experiment. We’re the lab rats.
- William Lind: a crying child opens our borders.
- Prepare for mass migrants, the greatest challenge to America.
- See the lies that keep the borders open.
Two books about immigration, both well worth reading
Europe is our future. We can watch them to avoid their mistakes.
Reflections on the Revolution In Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West
The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam
