05 June 2005
State of the City -- Immigration
This is the first of several commentaries on the 2005 report of the Fresno mayor to his constituents.
Mayor Alan Autry proposed a two-year moratorium on immigration. He was also a guest on Lou Dobbs' CNN show, which daily blasts free market government policies. As an aside, it is interesting to have the mayor comment on immigration, a constitutionally national duty, given the controversy over Fresno's Human Relations Commission, which is slowly being decommissioned because it crossed the line, according to some, by taking a stand on a national issue, the war in Iraq.
I would suggest to the mayor and all of you to read the what the Cato Institute says about immigration control in its Cato Handbook for Congress. It summarizes the evidence that immigration is a net economic asset, that immigration is NOT a drain of government budgets, that current immigration is NOT out of proportion to historic immigration levels, that immigration is NOT the cause of urban sprawl or "overpopulation", that immigration does NOT reduce the employment or wage levels of American citizens, and that immigration is NOT a risk to national security.
Immigration adds new ideas in technology and culture that keep America dynamic and a forever-young nation in outlook and vitality. Immigration is a critical component of a free market system because readily accessible labor is as important as readily accessible capital or readily accessible natural resources.
A secure America is based on a just and non-interventionist foreign policy, a strong national DEFENSE (not OFFENSE), and a focus on REAL terrorist threats. Libertarians see no problem whatsoever in investigating and thwarting those who are TRULY threatening America. The widespread assumption that hindering the activities of innocent Americans and immigrants is necessary to thwart the activities of terror threats is bogus and needs to be overturned.
"Illegal" immigrants are "criminals". So are those who have unregistered guns or carry them in their cars, those who make sports bets for others online, those who smoke marijuana to relieve the pain of their illnesses, and those who protest unjust laws by violating them. Criminalizing an individual's peaceful and consensual activities (especially those done to make life better for him/her self and family) is one of our society's cruelest and most self-defeating habits.
The migration from the Bay Area and Southern California is far greater and will use far more local services than any migration from Mexico or Canada. A better migration reform might be to close the Fresno County border or to ask Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona to close their southern and western borders to prevent more jobs and citizens tired of big-sky-high taxes from fleeing.
Mayor Alan Autry proposed a two-year moratorium on immigration. He was also a guest on Lou Dobbs' CNN show, which daily blasts free market government policies. As an aside, it is interesting to have the mayor comment on immigration, a constitutionally national duty, given the controversy over Fresno's Human Relations Commission, which is slowly being decommissioned because it crossed the line, according to some, by taking a stand on a national issue, the war in Iraq.
I would suggest to the mayor and all of you to read the what the Cato Institute says about immigration control in its Cato Handbook for Congress. It summarizes the evidence that immigration is a net economic asset, that immigration is NOT a drain of government budgets, that current immigration is NOT out of proportion to historic immigration levels, that immigration is NOT the cause of urban sprawl or "overpopulation", that immigration does NOT reduce the employment or wage levels of American citizens, and that immigration is NOT a risk to national security.
Immigration adds new ideas in technology and culture that keep America dynamic and a forever-young nation in outlook and vitality. Immigration is a critical component of a free market system because readily accessible labor is as important as readily accessible capital or readily accessible natural resources.
A secure America is based on a just and non-interventionist foreign policy, a strong national DEFENSE (not OFFENSE), and a focus on REAL terrorist threats. Libertarians see no problem whatsoever in investigating and thwarting those who are TRULY threatening America. The widespread assumption that hindering the activities of innocent Americans and immigrants is necessary to thwart the activities of terror threats is bogus and needs to be overturned.
"Illegal" immigrants are "criminals". So are those who have unregistered guns or carry them in their cars, those who make sports bets for others online, those who smoke marijuana to relieve the pain of their illnesses, and those who protest unjust laws by violating them. Criminalizing an individual's peaceful and consensual activities (especially those done to make life better for him/her self and family) is one of our society's cruelest and most self-defeating habits.
The migration from the Bay Area and Southern California is far greater and will use far more local services than any migration from Mexico or Canada. A better migration reform might be to close the Fresno County border or to ask Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona to close their southern and western borders to prevent more jobs and citizens tired of big-sky-high taxes from fleeing.
# posted by Rodney Austin @ 2:36 PM 
