Open Nafta Borders? Why Not? - Immigration is what made this country great.

Articles

By Robert L. Bartley, Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2001

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/rbartley/?id=95000738

Reformist Mexican President Vincente Fox raises eyebrows with his suggestion that over a decade or two Nafta should evolve into something like the European Union, with open borders for not only goods and investment but also people. He can rest assured that there is one voice north of the Rio Grande that supports his vision. To wit, this newspaper.

We annually celebrate the Fourth of July with a paean to immigration, the force that tamed this vast continent and built this great Republic. This is not simply history; immigration continues to refresh and nourish America; we would be better off with more of it. Indeed, during the immigration debate of 1984 we suggested an ultimate goal to guide passing policies--a constitutional amendment: "There shall be open borders."....

On this Fourth of July we celebrate this history more forthrightly than we have in two decades....

At the same time, the U.S. is gradually relearning the secret of assimilation--every informal recognition of cultural differences but no formal ones. "Bilingual education," which trapped schoolchildren in a Hispanic ghetto for the benefit of ethnic politicians and a few teachers, is on its way out....

[Legal] Immigration now runs about a million a year against a population of 275 million, a rate that remains below the historical average. The proportion of immigrants with postgraduate education is three times the native rate. New immigrants are no longer eligible for welfare, removing that bugaboo. A study by the National Research Council in 1997 found that while unschooled immigrants are net recipients of taxpayer money in the first generation, their children repay these costs.

...There is no realistic way to stop the resulting flow of people--certainly no way that would be acceptable to the American conscience....

Sealing the border against people willing to risk death is not a practical option, let alone a morally attractive one. The only hope is to manage the flow of people in a constructive and humane way. As President Fox says, "By building up walls, by putting up armies, by dedicating billions of dollars like every border state is doing to avoid migration, is not the way to go."

Item one in any agenda to ease border problems would be rapid economic development to provide opportunity within Mexico....

North of the border, the solution to the problem of illegal immigration is to make it legal, or at least to normalize the movement of people....

...over the decade or two he mentioned, a Nafta with open borders may yet prove not so wild a dream.

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