Root Causes and the Libertarian Immigration Debate

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.
- Henry David Thoreau

The libertarian immigration debate is alive and well.¹ Although there is no debate over the immigration policy of a free society, there is considerable controversy over the proper immigration policy in our currently existing statist society. However, this debate has neglected to address the root causes of forced integration and forced exclusion, and its solutions fail accordingly. This article will attempt to resolve the debate by addressing the root causes of forced integration and forced exclusion, and by proposing solutions that address these root causes.

Before we can address the problem of immigration under statism, we must establish several premises.

First, under anarchy, the concept of immigration is meaningless. As all property is privately owned, there is no distinction between citizens and foreigners. People don’t immigrate, but simply travel from one place to another. There are no government borders, but only private property borders. And as property owners have the right of admission and exclusion, there is no forced integration or forced exclusion, and hence no immigration problem.

In contrast, under statism, we have government borders, government property (roads, parks, etc.), and antidiscrimination laws. Government borders, by preventing invited travel, violate the right of admission and so cause forced exclusion. Government property and antidiscrimination laws, by preventing property owners from excluding unwanted guests, violate the right to exclusion and so cause forced integration. As libertarians, our goal is to move from statism to anarchy.

Next, we must recognize that open borders are a free market institution. That is, open government borders are the same thing as no government borders. And since there are no government borders under anarchy, open borders are anarchic. Consider: with closed borders, there is a government building, government border patrol guards, and perhaps a government fence. With open borders, there is nothing, only private property borders. Because libertarianism means abolishing all elements of government, in a free society there would be no government building, no government guards, and no government fence. Thus, open borders are the same as no borders. Open borders are a free market institution.

Striking the root

One of the many problems with statism is that it causes forced integration and forced exclusion. But what are the root causes of these phenomena?

Forced exclusion occurs when invited travel is violently restricted or prohibited by the state. It is a direct violation of the right of admission. As Hoppe notes, “if the government excludes a person while even one domestic resident wants to admit this very person onto his property, the result is forced exclusion”. Government borders are the primary means by which invited travel is restricted. Hence, government borders are the root cause of forced exclusion. Accordingly, the solution to forced exclusion is to abolish government borders.

Forced integration occurs when private exclusion is violently restricted or prohibited by the state. Property owners have the right to exclude unwanted guests, and forced integration is a direct violation of that right. The two primary means by which the government causes forced integration are government property and antidiscrimination laws. Government property, Hoppe writes, means that “by proceeding on public roads, or with public means of transportation, and in staying on public land and in public parks and buildings, an immigrant can potentially cross every domestic resident’s path, even move into anyone’s immediate neighborhood and practically land on his very doorsteps.”² Antidiscrimination laws, by restricting how property owners can discriminate, are an obvious violation of the right of exclusion. Hence, government property and antidiscrimination laws are the root causes of forced integration. Accordingly, the solution to forced integration is to privatize government property and abolish antidiscrimination laws.

Now we come to the heart of the issue. Open borders are not the root cause of forced integration. It is true that open borders may exacerbate the problem of forced integration. For example, the effects of forced integration are amplified if open borders allow more people to take advantage of government property and antidiscrimination laws. However, note that open borders would not cause any problems if government property and antidiscrimination laws did not exist. All this means is that open borders are a “branch cause”, or a contributing cause, of forced integration. They are not the root cause. Consequently, closed borders are not an appropriate solution to forced integration. If the root cause of forced integration is government property and antidiscrimination laws, then addressing a contributing cause, i.e. closing the borders, will not solve the problem. This is evident when we realize that closed borders will only prevent foreign forced integration; domestic forced integration will remain unsolved. Moreover, closed borders still leave us with the problem of forced exclusion.

Clearly, the solution to forced integration must be to address the root cause. This means privatizing government property and abolishing antidiscrimination laws. With this accomplished, forced integration will be defeated forever, as property owners can exclude any unwanted guest, domestic or foreign. As all property is private, and all travel is invited, the immigration problem is solved. To paraphrase Thoreau, the advocates of closed borders are hacking at the branches of forced integration, while the government property and antidiscrimination laws abolitionists are striking at the root.

Analytically distinct problems

Another way to look at the problem is to recognize that just as welfare is a separate issue from immigration, so too are government property and antidiscrimination laws separate issues from immigration. As analytically distinct issues, therefore, they must be treated accordingly.

As Hoppe notes, immigration is a separate issue from welfare.

“It would also be wrongheaded to attack the above case for free immigration by pointing out that because of the existence of a welfare state, immigration has become to a significant extent the immigration of welfare-bums, who, even if the United States, for instance, is below her optimal population point, do not increase but rather decrease average living standards. For this is not an argument against immigration but against the welfare state. To be sure, the welfare state should be destroyed, root and branch. However, in any case the problems of immigration and welfare are analytically distinct problems, and they must be treated accordingly.”

Those who blame the negative effects of the welfare state on open borders are incorrectly tracing causality. The problems of welfare are caused directly by the welfare state, not open borders. Granted, open borders may exacerbate the problems of welfarism, but they are not the root cause. This is obvious when we consider that open borders do not exacerbate welfare problems when there is no welfare state. Moreover, closing the borders to prevent welfarism will only hinder foreign welfarism; domestic welfarism will remain unsolved. The only way to resolve the problem is to analyze separately the distinct problems of immigration and welfare. Then, the solution to welfare is to address the root cause, i.e. abolish the welfare state. Closing the borders does not address the root and so will not solve the problem.

This reasoning also applies to government property and antidiscrimination laws. Those who blame forced integration on open borders are incorrectly tracing causality. Forced integration is caused by government roads and parks, and by antidiscrimination laws violating the right of exclusion. Again, open borders may exacerbate the problem, but they are not the fundamental cause. Here too, the only way to resolve the problem is to analyze separately the distinct issues of forced integration and immigration. Thus, the root cause of forced integration is government property and antidiscrimination laws. The solution therefore cannot be closed borders, but must be to abolish government property and antidiscrimination laws. The immorality of forced integration is not an argument against open borders, but against government property and antidiscrimination laws.

Thus, in Hoppe’s quote above we can simply replace the word “welfare” with “government property and antidiscrimination laws”: “For this is not an argument against immigration but against government property and antidiscrimination laws. To be sure, government property and antidiscrimination laws should be destroyed, root and branch. However, in any case the problems of immigration and government property and antidiscrimination laws are analytically distinct problems, and they must be treated accordingly.” Once we recognize that the root cause of forced integration is government property and antidiscrimination laws, it becomes evident that closed borders are not an appropriate solution.

Strategy

Yet another way to see the problem is to compare the strategies of the closed border advocates to the government property and antidiscrimination laws abolitionists. As noted above, today under statism we have government property, government antidiscrimination laws, and government borders. Our goal is anarchy, with private property, no antidiscrimination laws, and private property borders. Also note that under statism we have forced integration and forced exclusion, and that these problems are solved under anarchy. So how do we get there?

If we privatize government property, abolish antidiscrimination laws, and abolish government borders, we will have attained anarchy and solved the problem of forced integration and forced exclusion. Privatizing government property and abolishing antidiscrimination laws will restore the right of exclusion, and hence end forced integration. Abolishing government borders will restore the right of admission, and hence end forced exclusion. This is the proper solution.

However, if we follow the anti-immigrationists and privatize government property, abolish antidiscrimination laws, but keep government borders, we will not reach anarchy: obviously, government borders are a government institution. True, with government property and antidiscrimination laws (the root causes of forced integration) being non-existent, the right of exclusion will be restored and the problem of forced integration would be solved. However, the existence of government borders means there would still be forced exclusion. Thus, advocating closed borders cannot be a libertarian solution, because there would still be government and there would still be forced exclusion.

One might object that the second strategy (privatize government property, abolish antidiscrimination laws, keep government borders) is more efficient, as it would minimize the effects of forced integration and welfarism during the transformation process; also, the borders can simply be abolished after first eliminating forced integration. However, this obviously violates libertarian principles. Government borders violate the right of admission. As Rothbard said, libertarians must be abolitionists; we cannot be gradualists, because that would mean sanctioning injustice. Amazingly, this strategy would mean directly advocating and even promoting statism. It would mean accepting the principle that “Government intervention X is justified to solve the problems of government intervention Y”. But if this is granted, we are no longer dealing with libertarianism, but with full-blown statism. Supporting government borders is clearly an example of unprincipled right-opportunism, and hence cannot be a viable strategy.

The vicious cycle of interventionism

The anti-immigrationists are unwittingly exemplifying the vicious cycle of interventionism as explained by Mises. He showed that there could be no third way between statism and a free market, because any government intervention would create unforeseen problems, which require further intervention to solve the new problems. But, the new interventions cause yet newer problems, and on and on until society is wholly state managed.

Likewise, by responding to the problems of government property and antidiscrimination laws, i.e. forced integration, the anti-immigrationists, like statists, miscomprehend the root cause: the original government intervention. With this miscomprehension, they go on to prescribe more government intervention to solve the first problem, e.g. advocating closed government borders. But, as we know, government borders will create unforeseen problems of their own, requiring yet further interventions. What’s next, advocating government-enforced apartheid to separate immigrants and their culture from the rest of America?

The solution, as Mises recognized, is to identify and address the root cause: the first government intervention. With forced integration, the root cause is government property and antidiscrimination laws. Open borders are only a contributing cause. With forced exclusion, the root cause is government borders. The proper solution, then, is to abolish antidiscrimination laws and government borders, and privatize government property. Closed borders are not a viable solution. They do not treat the root cause.

Once seen in this light, the advocacy of closed borders is very bizarre indeed. As open borders are a free market institution, why would anyone support closed borders – a government institution?! The goal of libertarians is to hack away at the size of government, not increase it! Advocating closed borders to solve the problem of forced integration is exactly analogous to advocating closed borders to solve the problem of welfare. In both instances the anti-immigrationist fails to recognize the root cause of the problem (the welfare state and government property and antidiscrimination laws, respectively), and hence advocates a bogus solution.

Objections

One might object that if open borders are achieved before government property, antidiscrimination laws, and welfare are abolished, the result would be the end of civilization. Hans Hoppe has advanced such an argument:

“Assume that the U.S., or better still Switzerland, declared that there would no longer be any border controls, that anyone who could pay the fare might enter the country, and, as a resident then be entitled to every “normal” domestic welfare provision. Can there be any doubt how disastrous such an experiment would turn out in the present world?. The U.S., and Switzerland even faster, would be overrun by millions of third-world immigrants, because life on and off American and Swiss public streets is comfortable compared to life in many areas of the third world. Welfare costs would skyrocket, and the strangled economy disintegrate and collapse, as the subsistence fund—the stock of capital accumulated in and inherited from the past—was plundered. Civilization in the U.S. and Switzerland would vanish, just as it once did from Rome and Greece.”

However, once we have accepted that consequences can overrule principle, we have abandoned libertarianism for utilitarianism. We must analyze the problem on libertarian principles, not solely on consequences.

Another objection, put forth by John Hospers, is that focusing solely on root causes will not solve the problem rapidly enough:

“When one questioner asks, “Isn’t there a danger that immigrants will enter the country to receive the benefits of the welfare state?” Jacob Hornberger responds, “Then get rid of the welfare state!” The response, of course, provides no answer to the question asked. What are we supposed to do in the meantime? We have at the moment a rather “advanced” welfare state, and what policy should we adopt while we still have the welfare state with us?”

This response again amounts to pure consequentialism. The idea that libertarian principles can be sacrificed to achieve short-term gains is a clear manifestation of right-opportunism. Further, Hospers seems not to recognize that the welfare state is the root cause of welfarism, and that abolishing it is the only viable solution. “What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Obviously, work towards abolishing the welfare state! Why would we want to devote scarce time and resources to any solution other than that which addresses the root cause?

Hoppe has also argued that “if and insofar as this government derived its legitimacy from the sovereignty of the “people” and was viewed as the outgrowth of an agreement or “social contract”" and “which assumed as its primary task the protection of its citizens and their property (the production of domestic security)”³, then the government would have to implement restrictive immigration policies. However, we all know that government does not derive its legitimacy from the sovereignty of the people, and that social contract theory is totally false, and that government production of security is monstrously illegitimate. What is Hoppe, a proud anarchist, talking about?!

He also writes:

“A popular government that wants to safeguard its citizens and their domestic property from forced integration and foreign invaders has two methods of doing so: a corrective and a preventative one. [First, the corrective method:] the government must reduce the quantity of public property and expand that of private property as much as possible, and whatever the ratio of private to public property may be, the government should help rather than hinder the enforcement of a private property owner’s right to admit and exclude others from his property. [Second, the] government must also engage in preventative measures. At all ports of entry and along its borders, the government, as trustee of its citizens, must check all newly arriving persons for an entrance ticket; that is, a valid invitation by a domestic property owner; and anyone not in possession of such a ticket must be expelled at his own expense.”⁴

However, we all know the theory of “popular government”, of government as the “trustee of its citizens”, to be a naive myth. Why is Hoppe spouting off these fallacious theories?!

A closed border advocate might respond with the majoritarian restitution argument as advanced by Stephan Kinsella: “immigration controls, or at least prohibition of illegal immigrant usage of “public lands,” can constitute a form of restitution. Since taxpayers have been victimized by the state’s forcing them to finance public spaces, they are owed something by the state as victims. Kinsella argues that “restitution need not be made only in dollars. It can be made by providing other value or benefits to the victims.”” (p.9) However, Gregory and Block’s response is a sufficient refutation: “In principle, a victim of robbery has no “right” to direct his assailant to aggress against others as a matter of “restitution,” for doing so violates yet other person’s natural rights. Being a victim of the state in no way entitles someone to use the state against anyone else…. Moreover, the state does not have its own resources and it can only “compensate” people by robbing from others.” (p. 9-10)

Conclusion

The libertarian immigration debate has failed to take into account the root causes of forced integration and forced exclusion. The purpose of this article is to fill that void by recognizing the root causes of forced integration and forced exclusion, and by suggesting appropriate solutions. Specifically, the root cause of forced exclusion is government borders; abolishing government borders will end forced exclusion. The root cause of forced integration is government property and antidiscrimination laws; privatizing the former and abolishing the latter will end forced integration. By falsely labeling open borders as the root cause of forced integration, closed border advocates ignore the true reality of forced integration, and their solutions suffer accordingly. Hopefully, this root cause analysis will resolve the libertarian immigration debate and foster greater unity within the libertarian movement.

1. See the Journal of Libertarian Studies’ Symposium on Immigration (Vol. 13 Num. 2), especially Block, “A Libertarian Case for Free Immigration”, and Hoppe, “The Case for Free Trade and Restricted Immigration“; Block and Callahan, “Is There A Right to Immigration? A Libertarian Perspective”; Hoppe, “On Free Immigration and Forced Integration“; Gregory and Block, “On Immigration: Reply to Hoppe”.
2. The argument that government property is a root cause of forced integration is subject to criticism. For instance, it relies on the assumption that the taxpayers are the sole owners of public property; one might object that public property has the status of unowned property, and should be open for homesteading. Another objection is that it assumes that the government is the trustee of the taxpayers; but since Spooner, it is commonly accepted that government is not a trustee but a criminal gang. In any case, whether or not government property is a root cause of forced integration does not affect this analysis, as it is undisputed that antidiscrimination laws are a root cause.
3. On Free Trade and Restricted Immigration, in Democracy: The God that Failed, p. 164
4. Ibid, p. 167