The Futility of Border Enforcement

Increased border enforcement long has been criticized has resulting in negative collateral consequences, including deaths.  Now, Mexico is calling on the United States to alter a plan to expand border fences designed to stem illegal immigration, saying the barriers would threaten migratory species that roam freely across the frontier.

In a L.A. Times commentary, Gregory Clark, a UC Davis economist, sees “illegal” immigration as the nation’s “best foreign aid” and contends that “As long as the southern border divides prosperity and poverty, the natural flow of migrants cannot be stopped.”   Along these lines, Business Week has a story with a title that tells it all “Immigration: The Lessons of History The country of immigrants has long tried to put restrictions on newcomers to keep the nation’s culture from changing. It has never worked.”

KJ