Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Border Security Obsession

Immigration is mainly an economic phenomenon, but the politics surrounding reform are mired in border security talking points.  The soon-to-be-voted-on Hoeven-Corker amendment to the immigration reform bill will double the size of border patrol and place an absurd array of technology and fencing on the southern border.  The Hoeven-Corker amendment is a political necessity, but a policy absurdity.
Securing the border is largely a rhetorical excuse to oppose reforming the immigration system. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) said of the Hoeven-Corker amendment that, “I do not think this amendment is going to touch many of the objections that I spoke about.”  The Hoeven-Corker amendment militarizes the border to an embarrassing degree – replacing the Statue of Liberty’s promise of liberty to all with a wall facing southward.  

http://www.cato.org/blog/border-security-obsession

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