Ignorance is Strength

 The next item on our bullet list: "An open border is no border."

 

Taken as a hypothetical, this would be half true. When you cross an open border, you enter a new jurisdiction and become subject to its laws. The border between Maryland and Virginia is open, but it's still a border. The same goes for the national borders within the European Union. To be sure, that has caused some friction, but it is obviously incorrect to say that they aren't borders at all. Keeping people out is not the only function of a border.

That said, what this is supposed to mean is that keeping people out is indeed the principal function of the borders of the United States and they don't even count as borders if they're open. Well okay, you can think that if you want. I agree that there are so many people who want to come to the U.S., largely out of desperation, that we could not allow open borders. Borders within the EU are open, but the border around it is not. However, quite obviously and indisputably, neither is ours. The U.S. borders are heavily patrolled, it is very difficult to enter the U.S. illegally, and the vast majority of people who try are apprehended immediately. That is just a fact. So the claim about "open borders" is just a lie, like most Republican rhetoric. 

 

And BTW, illicit drugs do not enter the country transported by illegal border crossers. It would be far too dangerous to entrust your valuable product to such a dangerous method. They mostly come concealed in freight, or carried by people who are crossing legally, mostly U.S. citizens. Nevertheless, much of the traffic is intercepted. Be that as it may, the only useful approach to illicit drugs is demand reduction. As long as there is demand, suppliers will always find a way.

With that nonsense out of the way, there is an important honest discussion we could have about immigration. The U.S. economy depends on immigration, and crackdowns on undocumented workers have caused major problems for farmers and other businesses in the U.S. with attendant economic harm. Our birth rate is now below replacement level and we are developing a serious shortage of workers. We probably should allow more legal immigration. And no, it's not going to change the character of the country, certainly not in a bad way. Irish, Italians, eastern Europeans, didn't used to be "white." Now they are. We're lucky to have Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican and for that matter Ethiopian restaurants and cultural festivals. But all that is completely aside from the question of "open borders." That's unmitigated bullshit.