Ben Sixsmith: "An Argument Against Open Borders And Liberal Hubris"

I'd like to point out that about five or six years ago I started saying that "progressives" were saying a lot of things about immigration that didn't make sense unless they were tacitly accepting--or at least moving toward--an open borders position. Basically everybody said I was wrong....but I wasn't. (Though: it's not just progressives: it's also some neoliberals and libertarians.)

   Anyway--it's a terrible idea.

   We should recognize certain obligations to non-Americans, and try to help them. One way we help them is by letting a very large number of them immigrate here legally (I'd like to see this decrease a bit in the not-terribly-distant future). Another way is via foreign aid (which I'd like to see increase.) Another way is that our military does a lot to keep the peace and defend the world (though a bit of the opposite, too, unfortunately...). 

   Open borders is exactly the kind of ridiculous social experiment that conservatism rightly wars us against--it's too big a gamble, and the consequences of failure could be catastrophic. There are other, better ways for America to help non-Americans. Wrecking the U.S. isn't going to help anyone.