Immigration Policy Before Day One

    As President Donald J. Trump follows up on his campaign promise to launch the biggest deportation operation in U.S. history, I think the Trump Administration is going to need a dose of realism.

    During the election campaign, I heard the Trump camp say that about 21 million illegal immigrants have come across our border while Biden occupied The White House.  When added to the number of illegal immigrants who were already here, they could be north of 40 million.

    Now, in Trump's deportation operation, perhaps he will transport 2 million people back across the border.  I don't see the government deporting more than that because of the cost.  To deport an individual illegal immigrant in a humane way, it often will require flying one to the country where that individual came from and chaperoning the person to one's town of origin.

    I want to congratulate Trump on his idea to have a mandatory policy of 10 years in prison if a deportee returns to the U.S.  I think that that disincentive to nullify the country's efforts will have a very positive effect.

    Now, there is a topic that I want to touch on - that being illegal immigrant law.  If there are 40 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. right now, as I suspect there are, and if the Trump Administration only has resources to deport 2 million, then there have to be policies in place on how the domestically residing illegals are to be treated.  I support completely cutting off all forms of welfare to illegals.  That would save an enormous amount of money.  But what would that do to the individuals in this country who are not going to be humanely deported?

    If America were to say: "You are here 5,000 miles from home with no money.  But we are not going to deport you, and neither will we let you work to support yourself financially."  Isn't that an incredibly malicious vice to put an individual into?

    For this reason, I advocate recognizing illegals' Freedom to Work and defining that as any productive activity that can be contracted with another person who one trades with.

    I see President Trump's point that illegal immigrants should not be rewarded for their border violating crime.  But if certain tens of millions of illegals are not going to be deported anyway, for benevolence sake, Let Them Live!

Paul Wharton

Objectivist Capitalist Medicine Promoter