Hello Lisa: > I guess it has been made clear to me that I can not be a member of the Libertarian > party. I couldn't disagree more with the statements below. What is a country > without borders.
Please re-read what I have written. Having an Open Immigration policy will actually make it EASIER to guard the border because you won't have individuals trying to sneak in through private property; they'll be coming in through designated entry points in the open rather then the shadows. Please especially read the bolded items below: 1) As Immigrants Move In, Americans Move Up - http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10650 2) Opposition to Immigration is Un-American - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=132 3) Immigration: Why the Debate is Tragically Flawed - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5449 4) Jason Riley (of the CATO Institute) Assails Myths of Immigration - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcBwPyDPW54 5) Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights on Open Immigration - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CAA5CFC985D89E9 6) Immigration and Individual Rights: Does a foreigner have a moral right to move to America? And should America welcome him? - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5138 7) Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration - Entry into the U.S. should ultimately be free for any foreigner, with the exception of criminals, would-be terrorists, and those carrying infectious diseases. - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4620 8) Legalize The American Dream: Immigration is in America's Self-Interest - If anti-immigration groups are really after American self-interest, they should open their eyes to the tremendous benefits that free immigration offers to America. - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=540 Sincerely, Franklin Perez (Libertarian) Florida State House Candidate (District 33) - Year 2010 Libertarian and Independent! Not Beholden to Party Politics! http://www.fperez1776.com http://www.twitter.com/fperez1776 http://twitwall.com/view/?who=fperez1776 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Z1WI2rNqE (407) 694-7805 Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:57:57 -0400 Subject: Re: PRESS RELEASE: Libertarian Candidate for Florida State House (District 33) Franklin Perez Proposes Solution to Illegal Immigration Problem! Legalize Open Immigration & Remove Welfare! From: floridiansun...@gmail.com To: perezfrank...@hotmail.com Hi Franklin, I guess it has been made clear to me that I can not be a member of the Libertarian party. I couldn't disagree more with the statements below. What is a country without borders. Lisa On Fri, Apr 30, 2010 at 8:48 AM, Franklin Perez <perezfrank...@hotmail.com> wrote: PRESS RELEASE: Libertarian Candidate for Florida State House (District 33) Franklin Perez Proposes Solution to Illegal Immigration Problem! Legalize Open Immigration & Remove Welfare! Dear Members of the Press and Public: My name is Franklin Perez, and I'm running in year 2010 for the Florida State House of Representatives (District 33) with a Libertarian platform. You may view information about my campaign by going to the http://www.fperez1776.com hyperlink. In light of the recent anti-Immigration Law passed in Arizona, I found it necessary to explain my position on the Illegal Immigration issue. I never thought I'd have to issue a PRESS RELEASE on this issue, since it's primarily a federal matter, but since the Arizona Legislature passed its anti-immigration Law, it has now become a State issue for EVERY person running for a State Legislative seat. The CATO institute has made several commentaries on this terrible law, which are listed below: 1) Arizona Turns Immigrant Workers into Criminals - http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/04/15/arizona-turns-immigrant-workers-into-criminals/ 2) Misguided Fears of Crime Fuel Arizona Immigration Law - http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/04/27/misguided-fears-of-crime-fuel-arizona-immigration-law/ I have ALREADY commented about my position on the Illegal Immigration issue back in July 3, 2010 when Jeff Hartzler, ex-candidate for Oviedo City Council, posed the question to me. You may view the content of this e-mail by going to the http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SemCountyLibs/message/3251 hyperlink. Below is an updated version of that e-mail.... ========================================================================== Hello Jeff Hartzler: You asked in a 7/1/09 e-mail: What is Franklin Perez's position on illegal immigration? I agree with the sentiment indicated in the article, which may be seen at the http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4675 hyperlink, entitled "The Solution to 'Illegal Immigration'" written by Harry Binswanger: "The problem of 'illegal' immigration can be solved at the stroke of a pen: legalize immigration. Screen all you want (though I want damn little), but remove the quotas. Phase them out over a 5- or 10-year period. Grant immediate, unconditional amnesty to all 'illegal' immigrants." I support Open Immigration and the Sanctuary State concept with the gradual and eventual removal of all welfare entitlements - both corporate, social, and individual. I refer you to the article, which may be seen at the http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4620 hyperlink, entitled "Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration" written by Harry Binswanger. I also refer you to another good article, which may be seen at the http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0410e.asp hyperlink, entitled "In Defense of Open Immigration" written by Anthony Gregory. Below are more hyperlinks describing the Case for Open Immigration: 1) Open Immigration vs. Xenophobia: It's a series of other hyper linked articles - http://www.capmag.com/category.asp?action=cat&catID=69 2) Title: Willing Workers: Fixing the Problem of Illegal Mexican Migration to the United States Author: Daniel Griswold Hyperlink: http://www.freetrade.org/node/44 As an aside: One of the other problems you have by not having Open Immigration is that there is a class of Illegal Immigrants that are afraid of contacting law enforcement. What then happens is that when a REAL crime is done against an illegal immigrant, the illegal immigrant is not likely to want to report the crime to law enforcement or cooperate with law enforcement for fear of being deported. Thus, REAL crime - such as rape, murder, theft, stealing, fraud, etc. - do not get reported to law enforcement. Thus, law enforcement is not able to gain the cooperation from the illegal immigrant communities in helping stop REAL crime. Thus, REAL Crimes tend to be far worse problem in illegal immigrant communities than elsewhere. I agree with the following: "The Libertarian Party has long perceived the importance of allowing free and open immigration, understanding that this leads to a growing and more prosperous America. We condemn the xenophobic immigrant bashing that would build a wall around the United States. At the same time, we recognize that the right to enter the United States does not include the right to economic entitlements such as welfare. The freedom to immigrate is a freedom of opportunity, not a guarantee of a handout. (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "The first and most fundamental argument in favor of unrestricted immigration is a moral argument. Immigration is about the individual's right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' a right that is universal and applies to all men [and women], whether they were born in America or not. That includes a foreigner's right to come to the United States, to rent or buy a home from an American, and to accept a job from an American employer - his [or her] right to pursue 'the American dream." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) "[T]he burden is on advocates of these restrictions to say what gives them the moral right to do so.... [Nobody] in the current anti-immigration movement ever bothers even to ask that question." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) America has always been a nation of immigrants.... Contrary to stereotypes, there is no evidence that immigrants come to this country to receive welfare . [I]mmigrants actually use welfare at lower rates than do native-born Americans . Most immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits. (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "A policy of open immigration will advance the economic well-being of all Americans. All major studies of immigrants indicate that they have a high labor force participation, are entrepreneurial, and tend to have specialized skills that allow them to enter under-served markets. Although it is a common misconception that immigrants 'take jobs away from native-born Americans,' this does not appear to be true. In 1989, the U.S. Department of Labor reviewed nearly 100 studies on the relationship between immigration and unemployment and concluded that 'neither U.S. workers nor most minority workers appear adversely affected by immigration." (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "Indeed most studies show that immigrants actually lead to an increase in the number of jobs available. Immigrants produce jobs in several ways: 1) The expand the demand for goods and services through their own consumption; 2) They bring savings with them that contribute to overall investment and productivity; 3) They are more highly entrepreneurial than native-born Americans and create jobs through the businesses they start; 4) They fill gaps in the low and high ends of the labor markets, producing subsidiary jobs for American workers; 5) Low-wage immigrants may enable threatened American businesses to survive competition from low-wage businesses abroad; and 6) They contribute to increased economic efficiencies through economies of scale." (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "Confirmation can be seen in a study by economists Richard Vedder and Lowell Galloway of Ohio University and Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute. They found that states with the highest rates of immigration during the 1980s also had the highest rates of economic growth and lowest rates of unemployment." (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "Have you heard that illegal immigrants don't 'contribute their fair share' of taxes? In fact, 62 percent of illegal immigrants pay income taxes, not by filing returns, but through the taxes withheld from their wages by their employers. Two thirds of these immigrants also pay Social Security taxes, even though they will never be eligible to collect benefits." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) "The impact of immigrants on taxes is more equivocal. Most immigrants pay more in taxes than they receive in government benefits. However, the majority of immigrant taxes are paid to the federal government, while immigrants tend to use mostly state and local services. This can place burden on states and localities in high immigration areas." (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "However, the answer to this problem lies not in cutting off immigration, but in cutting the services that immigrants consume. The right to immigrate does not imply a right to welfare - or any other government services. Moreover, this is not simply a matter of saving tax money. [I believe]... that most government welfare programs are destructive to the recipients themselves. Thus, immigrants would actually be better off without access to these programs." (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) "As Edward Crane, President of the Cato Institute, has put it: 'Suppose we increased the level of immigration, but the rule would be that immigrants and their descendants would have no access to government social services, including welfare, Social Security, health care, business subsidies, and the public schools. I would argue, first, that there would be no lack of takers for that proposition, Second, within a generation, we would see those immigrants' children going to better and cheaper schools than the average citizen; there would be less poverty, a better work ethic, and proportionately more entrepreneurs than in the rest of the U.S. society; and virtually everyone in that group would have inexpensive high-deductible catastrophic health insurance, while the 'truly needy' would be cared for by an immigrant culture that have proportionately more to charity.'" (Source: Libertarian Party article entitled Benefits of Open Immigration written by Michael Tanner & printed on 10/3/2008 from the http://www.lp.org/issues/printer_immigration.shtml hyperlink.) In the interest of fairness, I would also propose moving gradually towards removing all forms of welfare entitlements for everyone, including native-born Americans. "Contrary to stereotypes, there is no evidence that immigrants come to this country to receive welfare. Indeed, most studies show that immigrants actually use welfare at lower rates than do native-born Americans. For example, a study of welfare recipients in New York City found that only 7.7% of immigrants were receiving welfare compared to 13.3% for the population as a whole. Likewise, a nationwide study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 12.8% of immigrants were receiving welfare benefits, compared to 13.9% of the general population. Some recent studies indicate that the rate of welfare usage may now be equalizing between immigrants and native-born Americans, but, clearly, most immigrants are not on welfare." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Do Mexicans come here to mooch off our welfare system rather than to work? [The answer is no.] .... Hispanics start new businesses at a rate three times higher than the national average; in 2002, 1.6 million Hispanic-owned businesses generated $222 billion in revenue. As for welfare and other 'social services,' only 5 percent of Mexican illegal immigrants receive food stamps or unemployment benefits, while only 10 percent have children in the public schools." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Have Mexican immigrants caused a crime wave? A survey of national crime statistics concluded that 'immigrants are generally less involved in crime than similarly situated groups." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) What is criminal is to make criminals of individuals who come to America to work and make a better life for themselves. As "the end of the 2005 [session of Congress] approached, House Republicans attempted to appease their conservative 'base' by calling for a sweeping new assault on immigration, pushing through a bill imposing draconian new penalties on illegal immigrants.... The House Republicans who have promoted this anti-immigration campaign stand for a giant fraud. They claim to be patriots, acting out of a desire to protect America from an 'invasion' of illegal immigrants. In reality, they are promoting an agenda that is thoroughly un-American, both in its goal and in its methods." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Consider the... [proposed 2005] anti-immigration bill. The bill's most odious provision would make illegal immigrants guilty of an 'aggravated felony' - the kind of criminal charge reserved for armed robbers and rapists - simply for seeking work in America. The purpose of this draconian provision? Anyone convicted of an aggravated felony is automatically rendered ineligible for US citizenship - which means that the purpose of this measure is to make illegal immigrants into permanent outcasts who can never legally be integrated into American society. But it is not just immigrants who are to be made into criminals. Extending the provisions of a law originally drafted to target drug smugglers, this bill would brand as 'human traffickers' anyone who even offers aid or support to an illegal immigrant. This means that a whole segment of Americans - including employers and even family members of immigrants - will be threatened with criminal prosecution and jail time." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Texas Congressman John Culberson defended this [2005 proposed] anti-immigration police state by explaining - in an inadvertent comment on the quality of our current political leadership - that he is merely responding to the will of his constituents, who are 'berserk with fury over the unprotected borders.' Someone has gone berserk, but it is unfair of politicians to project that hysterical state of mind onto their constituents. Rather, it is the House Republicans who hava abandoned their capacity for rational thinking and self-control." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "In place of rational thinking, the anti-immigrationists have substituted a series of rationalizations meant to disguise the real meaning and motive of their policies." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "One of the key evasions of the anti-immigration crusade is that all of the scrutiny it imposes on immigrants is dropped when looking at native-born Americans.... Thus, for example, Mexican immigrants are blamed for allegedly coming here to take advantage of America's welfare state - but equal outrage is rarely summoned for the much larger number of native-born Americans who live off the welfare system. Or critics intone sanctimoniously that immigrants ought to expected to comply with all of the Byzantine requirements and onerous expenses imposed by the INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service] - while native-born Americans are somehow entitled to complain bitterly about strangulating red tape every April 15, when we are forced to deal with the IRS [Internal Revenue Service]. And so we have to ask: if our culture is so weak that it can't induct immigrants into American culture - how is it going to induct the next generation of native-born Americans, a group at least three to four times as large?" (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Wombs versus Minds: America's Real 'Assimilation' Dilemma" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Some critics cite the chaos, lawlessness, and organized crime that afflicts border areas, especially in Texas, that are overrun by illegal border crossings. But, as with the gang violence of the Prohibition era, these are the results, not of a failure to block immigration, but of precisely the opposite. Legalized immigration could be done in the open, at approved border crossings easily monitored by US law enforcement officers, who could maintain order and screen out [real] criminals. Instead, tight legal limits on immigration (along with [useless and costly] drug prohibition laws [that violate a consenting adult's right to liberty and happiness] make cross-border smuggling profitable and give immigrants a reason to trample over private land." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "A variant of this complaint is the argument that illegal immigrants are undesirable because they are "breaking the law," demonstrating that they have no intent to live productive, law-abiding lives once they come here. This is meant to make it sound as if lawmakers are only opposed to illegal immigration, not to immigration as such. Yet these same politicians have spent decades erecting barriers against legal immigration. The... [2005] annual quota for legal immigrants from Mexico, for example, is 75,000 - hundreds of thousands less than the actual number of immigrants who desire to come here, and who have willing employers waiting to hire them. ([Ex-]Mexican President Vincent Fox has petitioned the US to raise the quota to 250,000, which is closer to the actual demand.) Having made legal immigration impossible for hundreds of thousands of people - in effect, requiring them to break the law to seek a better life - the anti-immigrationists then scream that these people are law-breakers." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) As an aside, I say the following: An unjust law is no law at all and is worthy of disrespect. "That is why [the 2005] House Republicans have refused to link their crackdown on illegal immigration with any provision to allow existing immigrants to legalize their status, or to allow new workers to come to the US under a 'guest worker' program. They are not against illegal immigration because they favor legal immigration; they are against all immigration." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Perhaps the most dishonest - and unjust - rationalization offered by the anti-immigrationists is their complaint that immigrants come here to drain wealth from the American welfare state. Why, then, are restrictions on immigration aimed precisely at those who seek to work? If the problem is that illegal immigrants don't work - then why does this [2005 proposed House]... bill seek to make criminals of their employers? (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Work is, in fact, the primary target of all immigration restriction - and not just low-paying work, but work on all levels or productivity. Many other nations have immigration restrictions targeted at keeping out menial laboreres, while they encourage an influx of educated workers. It is a peculiarity of the American system that it is equally interested in discouraging the immigration of Mexican day-laborers, Indian computer programmers, and Israeli scientists." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "The real essence of the anti-immigrationists' argument is not that immigrants are unwilling to work, but that they are too willing to work, that they are so eager to work that they will come here and take "our" jobs - jobs that are supposed to be set aside, by government fiat, for American workers. Their crude version of being 'pro-American' is that they want to protect a supposed monopoly on jobs by native-born Americans, a monopoly enforced at the point of a gun." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Thus, just at the point when... [it is needed] to rein in the welfare state, the [2005 US House of Representatives] Republicans are adopting the welfare-state entitlement mentality, but in a crudely nationalistic variation. The premise of the anti-immigration crusade is that native-born Americans have a right to be hired for menial jobs at high wages, not because they have the skills or initiative to perform those jobs productively, but simply because they were born in this country." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "The message the anti-immigrationists offer to Americans is you shouldn't have to work hard or compete for a job. You don't have to show your employer that you will be more productive than a Mexican or Indian applicant. You just have to assert your right to that job because you were born here - and your friends in Congress will enforce your claim by going 'berserk' and bashing some heads in." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) "Any real American ought to be insulted by this offer. The American dream is not about holding a make-work job set aside for you by a paternalistic government; it is about succeeding through your own effort." (Source: Article appearing in "The Intellectual Activist" Magazine entitled "Americans Against the American Dream" written by Robert Tracinski.) Bottom Line: Immigrants give more than what they take! If you have any more questions you would like to ask of me on this topic or any other topic, please feel free to ask me. =========================================================================== Below are more hyperlinks explaining why America should go back to an Open Immigration Policy with removal of ALL Welfare: 1) As Immigrants Move In, Americans Move Up - http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10650 2) Opposition to Immigration is Un-American - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=132 3) Immigration: Why the Debate is Tragically Flawed - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5449 4) Jason Riley (of the CATO Institute) Assails Myths of Immigration - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcBwPyDPW54 5) Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights on Open Immigration - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=7CAA5CFC985D89E9 6) Immigration and Individual Rights: Does a foreigner have a moral right to move to America? And should America welcome him? - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=5138 7) Immigration Quotas vs. Individual Rights: The Moral and Practical Case for Open Immigration - Entry into the U.S. should ultimately be free for any foreigner, with the exception of criminals, would-be terrorists, and those carrying infectious diseases. - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=4620 8) Legalize The American Dream: Immigration is in America's Self-Interest - If anti-immigration groups are really after American self-interest, they should open their eyes to the tremendous benefits that free immigration offers to America. - http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/index.php?news=540 ALL the above articles give VERY good and impassioned arguments why American should go back to an Open Immigration Policy with eventual removal of ALL Welfare. If anyone from the PUBLIC or PRESS have any more questions you would like to ask of me on this topic or any other topic, please feel free to contact and ask me. Sincerely, Franklin Perez (Libertarian) Florida State House Candidate (District 33) - Year 2010 Libertarian and Independent! Not Beholden to Party Politics! http://www.fperez1776.com http://www.twitter.com/fperez1776 http://twitwall.com/view/?who=fperez1776 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Z1WI2rNqE (407) 694-7805 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian/join (Yahoo! 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