Close the welfare spigot and the only immigrants coming here those who want to be Americans. Folks like my Dad and his parents.
I tell you what, you libertarians and radical leftists, end welfare first, then we look at your open borders policy.
This is the actual, 2004 text of the Libertarian Party Platform on immigration, it is, and always has been the same (since at least 1990 that I can find).
COMPLETE PLATFORM TEXT
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL ORDER
IMMIGRATION:
The Issue: We welcome all refugees to our country and condemn the efforts of U.S. officials to create a new “Berlin Wall” which would keep them captive. We condemn the U.S. government’s policy of barring those refugees from our country and preventing Americans from assisting their passage to help them escape tyranny or improve their economic prospects.
The Principle: We hold that human rights should not be denied or abridged on the basis of nationality. Undocumented non-citizens should not be denied the fundamental freedom to labor and to move about unmolested. Furthermore, immigration must not be restricted for reasons of race, religion, political creed, age or sexual preference. We oppose government welfare and resettlement payments to non-citizens just as we oppose government welfare payments to all other persons.
Solutions: We condemn massive roundups of Hispanic Americans and others by the federal government in its hunt for individuals not possessing required government documents. We strongly oppose all measures that punish employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress free enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from hiring Hispanics.
Transitional Action: We call for the elimination of all restrictions on immigration, the abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for all people who have entered the country illegally.
Even if what you say is true, it’s just not realistic at all to think we can close off welfare while we allow mass immigration of those likely to use it. Most Hispanic (and now most Asian) immigrants are going to vote for Democrats, and Democrats are going to be very generous spending tax payer dollars in buying the loyalty of voters. It’s really amazing (in a bad way) that libertarians think their ideas of limited govt will have appeal to immigrant communities.
But I disagree with you in part because I’m not convinced that even today’s heavily pro-Democrat immigrants are coming here for the welfare or govt freebies. I think they are coming because the US still offers more economic opportunities than their native lands. Of course once they get here...well, who’s gonna look a gift horse in the mouth?
Even if we somehow implemented libertarian policy today, it would simply be undone years from now when the Democrats have a demographic lock on power.