Opinion: The case for open borders

Cars cross the Paso del Norte international bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, Nov. 6. Christian Chavez / AP
Published: 11-09-2024 6:00 AM |
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing. He can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com
I trust you all voted. The election is over. The results may or may not be as some of you hoped. However, by voting we have kept democracy alive and have exercised the privilege and obligation of living in a democratic nation. And also, the conclusion of election day hopefully marks the end of texts and emails asking for money and votes for candidates, refreshing my inbox. Most of all, my anxiety has cooled to a simmer!
We are now free to turn our energy toward national issues that need the attention of our president and Congress. One issue that was raised again and again during the campaign was the situation at U.S. borders.
Borders are arbitrary demarcations used to create nation-states. According to John Washington in his book, “The Case for Open Borders,” “the lines of national borders on maps are artificial constructs as unnatural to us as they are to birds flying overhead.”
Consider the nation’s history of creating northern and southern boundaries as well as creating Native American reservations. They are only symbols of power. However, the existence of these borders is defended with political arguments, economic theories, environmental stressors, and ethical concerns.
The political argument for maintaining borders was shrewdly debated during the election campaign. Some characterized those across the border as dangerous, asylum seekers unworthy of U.S. residency, or potential terrorists. Yet, a Cato Institute study found that “between 1975 and 2017 a mere seven undocumented immigrants to the United States had been convicted of planning terrorism within the country.”
Some defended the mythical existence of an ill-conceived homogeneous population. But the fact remains that the U.S. population, by definition, cannot be considered homogeneous. All its citizens are migrants or descendants of immigrants from a multiplicity of regions around the world. Each person is a contributor to a collection of different traditions, faiths, skin colors, orientations, philosophies, ethnic foods, and much more. Borders demonstrate a lack of tolerance for healthy diversity.
Economics is often used as a reason to have secure borders. Some argue that immigrants take away jobs, subvert wages, and stress the systems of healthcare, education, housing, and social security. However, Washington writes that “the U.S. economy has been richly nourished by immigration. In both 2016 and 2022, two near-record years for legal immigration, over a million people entered the country, and the GDP rose steeply, wage trends remained steady and unemployment fell.”
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He points out that a congressional study concluded that “foreign-born workers are key contributors to the U.S. economy, making up more than 17 percent of the labor force and creating about one-fourth of new businesses… Immigrants fuel economic growth,” and contribute to a healthy America.
The building of the wall and other barriers along U.S. borders can be considered a metaphor for environmental stress. Animals are prevented from migrating and from crossing for food, water, and to escape predators. As the climate changes, the freedom to move to a more compatible environment is becoming more and more crucial for flora and fauna.
Climate change is also the reason for a mass movement northward of poorer people seeking places more conducive to their well-being. According to prevailing estimates, as many as half a billion desperate people will be forced from their homes by the climate crisis in the coming decades. Closing borders is a death sentence for many of these people.
Finally, strengthening border barriers begs for an examination of our country’s ethics. Strong borders are an affront to human dignity, an instrument of inequity, and an obstacle to compassion. The process of crossing the border into the United States has become unethically intrusive, such as emptying pockets, searching luggage, and occasional pat-downs.
Often data is required such as fingerprints, personal information, and facial recognition scans to be shared by security agencies. Washington observes that walls are “not protective but inflammatory. They foment political violence and the miseries of dispossession.” He writes, “Borders are as much a solution to the radical changes to come as an umbrella is to a hurricane.”
The solution to border issues is to put away the umbrella, open borders with the offer of shelter, hospitality, and neighborly respect. If there is an insistence on maintaining borders, let them be like the borders between states in the U.S. north, south, east, and west; we can travel from state to state, equal as human beings with equity of opportunity. Offering dignity to each migrant provides more security than the highest thickest border walls.