By: Gary D. Barnett
“The Wall was an edifice of fear. On November 9th, it became a place of joy.” – Former German President Horst Köhler, Berlin, November 9th 2009
America has become the epitome of divisiveness, one side against the other, both against the middle. This is a malignancy that has grown into mass hatred, and no good can result from such animosity among men.
A perfect example of this alienating hate filled philosophy is the current argument, a most heated argument to be sure, about whether or not to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. This story is all consuming, and a shot in the arm for the ever-faltering mainstream press, as they stoke the fires of dissension between the left and the right. But as is often the case these days, both sides are currently wrong on this issue given the options they present. This is not surprising.
Generally speaking, the liberal solution is not to build a wall, but to allow open borders with continued state border controls. This plan does not call for the elimination of government border control, its drug war, its corrupt managed trade policies, or its military coups to support dictators friendly toward the U.S. It is not a plan for open borders at all; it is one of continued police state aggression.
The general conservative solution is to build a wall 2000 miles long on the entire southern border between the U.S. and Mexico, relegating the two longstanding friendly countries to a permanent and sealed separation. This is a horrible solution, as history certainly dictates. Walling off a country’s borders imprisons the very people attempting to protect themselves. That tradeoff of freedom for security can lead to a perilous end, as has always been the case in the past.
A better solution in my opinion would be to analyze the problem to find out what caused it in the first place. Open borders were never a dangerous liability in the past, so what changed? If the causes are from within, why not change those policies so that all have an opportunity to chase the dream of freedom and prosperity? In that case all would win, American citizens and immigrants alike.
As is almost always the case, the root cause of this so-called “national dilemma” falls directly in the lap of government, its agencies, and the complicit corporate interests. It is not mentioned often in the mainstream press, but there are more migrants currently coming to the U.S. through its southern border from Central America than Mexico. Why is this happening now? Is this a national emergency or a government created emergency? The answer to this question should be obvious.
The U.S. has been aggressively intervening in Central America for over a century. The U.S. military, the CIA, DEA, U.S. Border Patrol, and the fascist corporate and government partnerships have exploited that region to such an extent that poverty, corruption, drugs, drugs due in large part to U.S. supported drug cartels, civil war, and famine are commonplace. U.S. violent intervention and its backed military coups in Latin America have literally destroyed the lives of the citizens there, rendering them helpless. The countries of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Nicaragua are steeped in poverty, are unstable, and consumed by violence. Their citizens have little or no electricity, scarce supplies of safe drinking water, and high mortality rates, especially for infants.
The American corporate involvement and structured U.S. trade agreements have helped destroy the local agriculture and industrial markets in favor of U.S. companies. This has caused more dependence on the U.S., vastly fewer jobs locally, and an overall ruination of local economies in general. Much of this carnage at the hands of the U.S. has taken place over the past two decades, so is it any wonder that the people of Central America are migrating to Mexico and the U.S.? Why would they not want to come to the best place to live and seek happiness?
It is American intervention that has caused mass migration worldwide, not just from Central America, and driven these people to leave their homes. It is also the American welfare state that has helped enhance that migration with added incentives that encourage some to come here for the wrong reasons.
Immigration has been a most valuable part of the history of this country. Without immigrants, where would we be today? America was founded and built by immigrants, and all of us with few exceptions can trace our heritage to another place in the world. We are mostly all immigrants or descendants of immigrants, so why are so many against more good and talented people seeking freedom here. It is not the immigrants we should fear, but the very government that now has grown to become the oppressing tyrant pitting us one against the other for its own nefarious agenda of power and control.
Any viable solution to this immigration problem should take all these factors into consideration. A wall is a horrible solution without question, and can only exacerbate the tension that is already inherent at our borders. Expanding the police state, an ongoing ambition of all liberals and conservatives, will never be a solution to anything except more tyranny. Declaring a national emergency, and stealing money outside of congressional approval, ruling by fiat in other words, is not the answer. Those advocating dictatorial rule by a sitting president are confused beyond recognition. They have lost all sense of reality where freedom and liberty are concerned.
So how can this seemingly impossible dispute be settled? First, it is important to clarify that immigrants are not the cause of our problems, it is the U.S. government, its agencies, its aggression, its interference in the lives of everyone in Latin America, and its desire to portray this ruse as a national security risk so as to gain more power over all of us that is the real obstacle.
Why not fully open the borders so that any can come here legally, and without restriction, eliminating the necessity for a wall or for any to trespass illegally. This is not different than what we have inside our own country. We have the freedom to travel and associate as we see fit without any or their property being harmed.
It is necessary that the government and all its agencies get out and stay out of Mexico and Central America. It is vitally important that human rights be respected regardless of national origin. All on earth should be treated equally unless and until they do something to not deserve it. If that is the best way, and I believe it is, how could any who believe in liberty support a wall to block others from seeking a better life? After all, how many of us would have been born here or would live here today if current immigration policies were in effect in the past? Think about our own ancestors and what they risked to come to these shores. What if they had been locked out?
Freedom and open borders are the better way, and how can one claim to believe in freedom while allowing those he calls his “representatives” to forcibly restrict others from seeking that same opportunity? That is a contradiction impossible to overcome.
Reprinted with permission from The Future of Freedom Foundation
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