My immigration proposals are better than Trump's V2
My ideas will make us rich while his will make us poor
WARNING: I'm a libertarian. Some of what I write below may offend the Left, the Right, or both. But as Walt Whitman asked, "Who are you who only wants to be told what you've heard before?"
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The Libertarian ideal
In an ideal libertarian world, people could come and go as they please, provided they don't aggress against others. If you want to know more about the moral basis for this view see the postscript at the end of the article.
If you already know that you agree with the libertarian vision, and want to achieve it, please join the Libertarian Party. On the other hand...
You may think we can never realize this ideal, or even that it's undesirable. Would you feel the same way about policies that move in a libertarian direction? I can offer you six such proposals that offer twelve profound benefits. Please consider them...
The problems before us
We have a labor shortage and a demographic debt crisis. We have too few young people to support our retirees and too few workers for the new factories that President Trump promises. We cannot have babies fast enough to solve these problems, but my immigration proposals can solve them, and do more besides. All these proposals would move the world in a more libertarian direction.
I offer twelve benefits
No more annual deficits
No more demographic debt crisis
No more price inflation caused by Federal Reserve money creation to help fund the federal deficit
More secure funding for those dependent on Social Security and Medicare
Massive economic growth
Federal surpluses to pay down the national debt and reduce interest payments
No more population advantage for China
No more welfare for immigrants
No more immigrant crowding at hospital emergency rooms
No more voting by non-citizens
No more housing crisis and less homelessness
Massively reduced deportation expenses
Making America great again isn't good enough
We've been there and done that. We need policies that will make us better than we've ever been. I want to extend American preeminence into the far future. I want Americans to enjoy unprecedented prosperity. Do you want the same? Then support the following policies...
Six proposals
Proposal #1: Outlaw tax-funded welfare benefits to non-citizens at the federal, state, and local levels. This would reduce the cost of the welfare state while also removing incentives for unproductive people to come here. No Democrat or Republican is offering you this. Only Libertarians are proposing it.
Proposal #2: Require health insurance to get a green card. The money that was going to
smugglers should go to healthcare instead. This policy would remove an objection to taking in more immigrants. It would also set the stage for other changes that would simplify the immigration process. No Democrat or Republican is offering you this. Only LIbertarians are proposing it.
Proposal #3: Require an ID to vote. You can even make citizenship requirements harder if you want. This would remove the fear that immigrants with anti-freedom values will swamp our elections. Republicans have called for this, but they have prioritized less effective policies rather than pushing hard to make this change. Could it be that they prefer to use the immigration issue as a tool of manipulation, rather than doing things that would make things better?
Proposal #4: Charge an annual fee for green cards (in addition to the health insurance). Make the price high enough to eliminate the annual deficit, but low enough to attract sufficient people to end the labor shortage, expand manufacturing, and sustain Social Security and Medicare. In other words...
Make immigrants pay you to be here. Make immigration a profit center.
This proposal would replace the current cumbersome immigration process that enriches lawyers but benefits no one else. It would reduce the aggressive debt burden that politicians and voters are imposing on future generations. It would also buy time for more fundamental reforms to Social Security and Medicare. No Democrats or Republicans are proposing this. Only Libertarians are offering it.
Proposal #5: Legalize home construction. Outlaw all zoning, density, and NIMBY constraints at the state and local levels. Let immigrants build sufficient housing for themselves and those Americans who are currently homeless. No Democrat or Republican is proposing this. Only LIbertarians are offering it.
Proposal #6: Require due process to deport someone for failing to buy a green card. Do not let ICE be the cop, the judge, and the punisher, all rolled into one. Restore the separation of powers. Make ICE conform to the spirit of DOGE. In short, make American due process great again. The Democrats and Republicans seem to find the Bill of Rights inconvenient. Only Libertarians defend it.
If you reject my proposals, you will pay the following costs...
The demographic debt crisis will worsen.
Interest payments will consume the federal budget.
Social Security and Medicare will both be cut.
The labor shortage will continue.
There will be no new factories because there will be insufficient workers to justify them.
GDP will stagnate.
We may lose ground in the economic competition with China.
The housing and homelessness crises will continue.
You will spend hard-earned money deporting people who could have helped you solve the above problems.
If you like these proposals, be a cause of the change you want to see. Start a trial membership in the Libertarian Party.
Postscript: The moral basis for libertarian immigration policy
Aggression is wrong. Violence should only be used defensively. This is true for governments as much as individuals. What does that mean for immigration? It means...
Humans have an inalienable right to move freely through public spaces and to associate with whomever they choose. They do not need permission from anyone else to do so. A public space is any area a person can travel across without violating property rights. This includes the roads citizens and immigrants fund through their gasoline taxes. Our inalienable rights of movement and association do not suddenly become alienable just because majorities, politicians, or people with badges say so.
What about borders? Political borders do not trump property rights, or our rights of movement and association. A border is simply a jurisdictional marker, indicating the institutions and laws that govern within those lines. If a political border were the same as a property boundary, you would need permission to cross from Arizona to California, but you don't, because it isn't. If two people reside side by side on the southern U.S. border and one person wants to host Mexicans and the other does not, both are within their moral and constitutional rights, regardless of what anyone else might want.
If you want less state aggression combined with more peaceful persuasion, voluntary cooperation, individual freedom, and personal responsibility, join the Libertarian Party.
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Copyright © Perry Willis 2025
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.