Four Obstacles Facing Libertarian Proponents of Border Controls
Libertarian proponents of immigration controls inevitably run into four obstacles in their support of this particular statist program:
1. The non-aggression principle. This is the core principle of the libertarian philosophy. It holds that it is morally wrong to initiate force against another person. Another way of stating the non-aggression principle is this: People have the right to live their lives any way they want, so long as their conduct is peaceful — that is, so long as they are not initiating force or fraud against others.
A political border is simply an artificial line that delineates different governmental jurisdictions. Most of the time, one cannot even see a border. For example, when people drive from Virginia to North Carolina, when they cross the border and enter North Carolina, there is not some great big red line that is the border. The only way that people know that they have crossed the border is that they see a sign that says “Welcome to North Carolina.”
It is obvious that crossing the border into North Carolina does not involve the initiation of force or fraud against someone else. It is an entirely peaceful act. And notice something important: The border between Virginia and North Carolina does not disappear simply because people are free to cross it (in both directions). The border remains. Once people cross it and enter North Carolina, they are subject to the laws of North Carolina. Thus, North Carolina does not lose its sovereignty simply because people are free to enter North Carolina.
If someone stops a person crossing the border int
Article from The Future of Freedom Foundation
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