THE PUSH FOR OPEN BORDERS: THE QUEST TO DESTROY AMERICA’S FUTURE An NPG Forum Paper by Christopher J. Daly Does America face a future where a system of ‘open In that June 24-25 online survey of 1,448 registered borders’ becomes a reality? voters, Harvard-Harris asked: “Do you think we should have basically open borders or do you think we need That is certainly an ominous question. secure borders?” Seventy-six percent of the respondents (1,093 people) said “we need secure borders.” Twenty- And while the idea that the majority of U.S. citizens four percent of respondents (354 people) said “we would ever permit an open borders policy – where all should have basically open borders.”1 who wanted to come to our country and make it their home are able to do so – may seem a bit far-fetched Take a closer look at those results. Are we really at present, there are very powerful forces taking our at a point where one-quarter of the American people nation in that direction. support open borders? st Indeed, as the 21 century moves forward and Do these individuals not understand that such a America confronts myriad challenges to long-standing disastrous policy will open the door for tens of millions laws and traditions, a growing debate about open of people to come flooding into our country? Do they borders has taken root in our country and cannot be not comprehend that our already-overpopulated nation ignored. cannot sustain more population growth? If that is the case, then we may already be on a fast-track to erasing With our nation already overpopulated, it is America’s sovereignty and destroying our economy – extremely worrisome that in recent years advocates of all due to a once-workable immigration system being open borders are not only more vocal, they have enlisted consistently undermined, leading to eventual collapse. rich and influential organizations that are working in concert to build a national grassroots campaign in their The driving factors which have brought us to this quest to make their dream a reality. harrowing point are many. However, they are chiefly driven by today’s divisive politics and a dominant This paper seeks to shine the spotlight on some of class of elected leaders who have repeatedly failed to the arguments open border advocates are using to sell confront our fast-deteriorating immigration system that their fellow citizens on the idea of abandoning efforts to has put our country in such peril. fix America’s broken immigration system and replace it with no immigration policy at all. Truth be told, no one should be surprised to find our nation face-to-face with today’s growing support for The goal of this paper is not to use these few pages open borders. It is an issue that has been festering for to present a ream of statistics related to the pro-and-con many years. arguments about open borders. Rather, it is to provide an overall general insight into the who, what, and why In 2006, former three-term Colorado Governor of this multi-dimensional issue, identify the passion that Richard Lamm (1975-1987) took to the pages of drives open border advocates, and make clear that as the The Washington Examiner to reaffirm his concerns open border lobby gains ground the end result could be about America’s worsening immigration system. At a a total upheaval of America’s future. national conference on overpopulation and immigration held in Washington, D.C. a number of years earlier, he SETTING THE STAGE FOR A gave a speech titled “Perils of Multi Culturalism” in which he stated: NATIONAL DEBATE “ A recent Harvard-Harris poll, taken in 2018, found I have a secret plan to destroy America. If you that 76% of registered American voters do not believe believe, as many do, that America is too smug, too the United States should have “open borders,” and 61% white-bread, too self-satisfied, too rich … then let’s said current U.S. border security is “inadequate.” destroy America. It is not that hard to do. History shows NPG-202 March 2020 Page 2 The Push for Open Borders: The Quest to Destroy America’s Future that nations are more fragile than their citizens think. enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. mantra: because immigration has been good for Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations America, it must always be good.”2 rise and they all fall, and that ‘an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.’ So, In his analysis as to where our nation was headed here is my plan: due to immigration, Governor Lamm had no special access to a magic crystal ball. Instead he simply had his 1. We must first make America a bilingual/ eyes wide open as to what was happening all around us bicultural country. History shows ... that no – and stepped forth to spread the alarm. While he was nation can survive the tension, conflict and speaking facetiously, the points he made were realistic antagonism of two competing languages and and reflective of our current immigration challenges. cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to As we fast-forward to the present day, when pro- be bilingual; it is a curse for a society to be immigration forces have gained more and more power, bilingual… it is quite clear that the open border lobby is working aggressively to advance its arguments into the nation’s 2. I would then invent ‘multiculturalism’ and discussions about our country’s future and paint our encourage immigrants to maintain their own present immigration system as evil. culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal ... there are no cultural differences that are important ... and the black OPTING FOR OPEN BORDERS and Hispanic dropout rate is only due to A sampling of the arguments for open borders is prejudice and discrimination by the majority. contained in the following three references. Every other explanation is out-of-bounds. In a July 2018 op-ed in USA Today, titled “Forget 3. We can make the United States a ‘Hispanic the Wall Already, It’s Time for the U.S. to Have Open Quebec’ without much effort. The key is to Borders,” author Jeffrey Miron, Director of Economic celebrate diversity rather than unity… Studies at the Cato Institute and the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, held forth that “America has 4. I would encourage all immigrants to keep nothing to fear, and much to gain, from open borders.” their own language and culture. I would He wrote: replace the melting pot metaphor with a salad bowl metaphor … I would make our “President Donald Trump’s recent tweets against fastest-growing demographic group the least open borders come as no surprise. Indeed, even fervent educated. I would add a second underclass, immigration advocates worry that open borders would unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic lower the wages of low‐ skilled natives, erode national to our population. … security, and overburden the social safety net…. 5. I would then get the big foundations and Big …Trump, however, has it exactly backwards: Business to give these efforts lots of money. The solution to America’s immigration problems is I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would open borders, under which the United States imposes establish the cult of victimology. ... I would no immigration restrictions at all. If the U.S. adopts start a grievance industry blaming all minority this policy, the benefits will far outweigh the costs… failure on the majority population. …Government will then have no need to define or interpret rules about asylum, economic hardship, family 6. I would establish dual citizenship and reunification, family separation, DACA (Deferred promote divided loyalties. I would ‘celebrate Action for Childhood Arrivals) and so on. When all diversity.’ … It stresses differences rather than immigration is legal, these issues are irrelevant… commonalities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other … when …Expenditure on immigration enforcement would they are not killing each other… shrink to nothing, because open borders means no walls, fences, screening at airports, ICE (Immigration 7. Then I would place all these subjects off-limits and Customs Enforcement), deportations, detention and make them taboo to talk about. I would find centers or immigration courts… a word similar to ‘heretic’ in the 16th century that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words …Economic efficiency will increase both like ‘racist,’ and ‘xenophobe’ halt argument and in the USA and in immigrant‐ sending countries, conversation. I would next make it impossible to because different kinds of labor will be better matched around the world to their most productive activity.” The Push for Open Borders: The Quest to Destroy America’s Future Page 3 Finally, Miron puts forth the classic argument of the Critics of immigration often hyperbolically accuse open border lobby that they constantly use to back up their opponents of favoring open borders—a world their arguments: “Ultimately, immigrants have always where all nationalities are free to live and work in been vital to America’s economic strength and to its any nation they like. For most, that’s an unfair label: commitment to freedom. Since its founding, the United They want more visas for high-skilled workers, family States has grown from a motley collection of colonies reunification, or refugees—not the end of immigration to one of the richest countries in the world, with some restrictions.