Why I Am Open Borders

[Invisible Man]

"They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. Their principles with their language, they will transmit to their children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us in the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its direction, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass." -T.J.

If you thought that quote indicated that TJ was for government restriction of immigration, you were mistaken.

Here is the whole essay.
https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/JEFFERSON/ch08.html


Notice this line that comes almost immediately after your quote.

If they come of themselves, they are entitled to all the rights of citizenship: but I doubt the expediency of inviting them by extraordinary encouragements.

The attitude TJ exhibits here is a very libertarian one (and closely resembles Ron Paul's approach). There is something he doesn't wish to happen, namely, immigration on a scale that he fears will be too rapid and massive. And yet, he does not give in to that inclination that so abounds among statists of every point of view, which is to insist that the government must prevent or solve this problem by force. Instead he insists on a laissez faire approach. If they come on their own, they have to be allowed to come and to stay. It merely must be without extraordinary encouragements.

[Invisible Man]

If we have open borders, then why fight wars or why have an army? We are all on the same "side" because there is no sides, its open borders.

Did the open borders that the USA had for most of its existence entail this?

Open borders doesn't mean borders or sides don't exist. It just means the practice of a free market approach to the peaceful movement of goods and people into and out of the country that has the open borders.

[Anti Federalist]

Did the open borders that the USA had for most of its existence entail this?

In 1750 the earth's population was roughly 791 million.

In 1800 it was 1 billion.

In 1900 it was 1.6 billion.

In 2015 it was 7.4 billion.

5 billion people can not come here.

Period.