The Cato Institute 2020 Annual Report says, “Under an open-door policy, America thrived and grew into the world’s preeminent economic powerhouse. Unfortunately, in the 20th century steep restrictions and barriers to immigration have become the norm, at a heavy cost to both American taxpayers and would-be Americans.”
I do not disagree with the statement, and have even proposed a plan to reform immigration laws and ease legal immigration. But what Cato did not say is just as important as what they said.
Prior to the 20th century, when the United States had open borders, we had a population of less than 76-million, Mexico had less than 14-million, and the entire earth had less than 1.7-billion. There was more space and less pressure to emigrate. There was a lot of land available to new settlers in the US and in Mexico. Now the US is around 330-million, Mexico is around 129-million, and the world is over 7.7-billion. A recent international poll found a majority of people saying they would move to the US if they had the opportunity. While the US is not yet overpopulated, there are a lot more people trying to get into the US than there were in 1900, and it is not unreasonable for Americans to want limits.
Prior to the 20th century, those who could afford the tickets traveled on steamships and trains. The rest walked or used animals for transportation. Even if you rode one of the modern steam-powered wonders of the age, you still used your feet or some animal to leave the dock or station. In 1900, automobiles were newly invented, and still primarily toys for wealthy enthusiasts. Airplanes did not exist. Transportation was hard and slow. The difficulty and cost of transportation naturally limited the number of immigrants to the United States. Now more than a billion cars, trucks, and buses zoom down roads at up to 80 miles-per-hour, and tens-of-thousands of jet aircraft cross the sky at over 500 miles-per-hour. Potentially millions of immigrants could pour into the US each year if unrestricted.
So the fact that the United States had open borders in the 18th and 19th centuries is irrelevant to the question of should we have open borders now. In the year 2021 unrestricted immigration for the United States would be completely unworkable.
Unfortunately, we now have the worst of both worlds. The current administration has chosen to disobey the immigration laws passed by Congress and signed by previous presidents. This leads to a bizarre situation wherein law-abiding would-be legal immigrants are kept out by restrictive laws, while law-breaking illegal immigrants are welcomed by the hundreds of thousands. The president’s primary job is to implement the law, but he is simply not doing so.
I will continue to support Cato and appreciate the work they do, but concerning immigration, they need to remove their blinders.
Posted 2021/10/16