Thread by @th_nd_r

Conservatives and others right-of-center ought to love immigration and support pro-immigration policies. It's rather surprising and concerning that many don't.

Thread below.

In the following series of tweets, I will list various values that the average conservative Republican typically holds (family values, fiscal responsibility, etc) and how those values ought to inform their stance on immigration.

While I support many of these listed values, I don't necessarily support all of them, as I am specifically a libertarian or a constitutional conservative; rather, I am accepting the key tenets of modern American conservatism for the sake of argument.

With that said, here we go.

If conservatives are focused on freeing our markets and strengthening our economy, they should loosen immigration laws to allow firms, workers, and consumers to freely interact and compete regardless of location, thus lowering prices and getting rid of our labor shortage.

If conservatives are focused on cutting spending and diminishing the size, scope, and power of big government bureaucracy, they should seek to audit, downsize, and limit the authority of immigration enforcement agencies as well.

If conservatives are focused on family values, they should focus on keeping families together, protecting them from inhumane conditions, and allowing parents to both give their children a better life and to earn money here in order to reinvest in their previous communities.

If conservatives are focused on traditional American values and respecting the will of the Founders, they should be reminded that the USA had open borders before the 1870s and that the USA owes its very existence and many parts of its culture to immigration.

If conservatives are focused on the Constitution, they should be adamant that immigration enforcement agencies respect everyone's due process rights as written down in the Bill of Rights.

If conservatives are focused on limiting illegal immigration, they should be passionate about making legal immigration easier so fewer immigrants are tempted to come here illegally. After all, they make a similar argument on guns ("criminals will break the law anyway").

If conservatives are focused on making our communities safer, they should support inviting populations that are statistically less violent -- and yes, legal AND illegal immigrants both commit less violent crime than native-born US citizens per capita according to TxDPS stats.

If conservatives are focused on deterring violence, they should divert more resources away from going after non-violent crimes such as illegal immigration and toward being as tough as possible (without committing immoral/illegal acts) against the most violent crimes.

If conservatives are focused on being tough on crime and limiting the power of cartels and gangs on the border, they should realize that the "illegal" status of many immigrants lowers their opportunity cost of committing other (more dangerous) illegal activities.

(Not to mention that the War on Drugs gives the cartels a monopoly on the black market and encourages further illegal activity itself. Many immigration problems might be solved or alleviated by ending the War on Drugs. But that's another thread for another day.)

If conservatives are focused on reducing the burden of the welfare state on taxpayers, they should be happy to hear that most illegal immigrants pay their taxes and aren't eligible for many programs (many related problems could be solved by diminishing the welfare state itself).

If conservatives are focused on lowering tax rates, they should be willing to allow an influx of taxpayers to come and help increase overall tax revenue without increasing tax rates, opening the door for a tax cut.

If conservatives are focused on conservation, they shouldn't put more walls or fences on the border which would directly interfere with wildlife on six national parks and other public lands.

If conservatives are focused on respecting lower levels of government (ie, state and local gov), they should reject federal one-size-fits-all approaches on immigration and related policy issues.

If conservatives are focused on maintaining peaceful relationships with our neighbors, they should allow goods, services, and migrants to come back and forth so soldiers won't, and they should reject the militarization of the border.

If conservatives are focused on supporting property rights, they shouldn't trample upon the property rights of American citizens at the border by using eminent domain to build the wall.

If conservatives are focused on winning elections in the future, they shouldn't sit idly by as a Republican President shoos away entire demographics from the conservative movement.

If conservatives are focused on being the movement of Reagan and Bush 41, they should realize that both of those Presidents were outstandingly pro-immigration. Reagan himself called not just for moderate proposals, but for open borders.

If conservatives are focused on crushing fake news media, they should condemn conservative news outlets for using emotional cherry-picked case studies to put xenophobic fear in the minds of conservative viewers instead of providing an honest report of the overall statistics.

If conservatives are focused on Biblical values, they should be willing to apply Exodus 23:9 and the values of love, tolerance, grace, and mercy to immigration policy.

Most importantly (to me), if conservatives are focused on protecting our God-given liberties, they should defend freedom of movement just as they would defend freedom of religion or the right to bear arms. Note that "God-given" holds regardless of race or country of origin.

To conclude, if anybody out there wants to organize to change the narrative on immigration in the conservative community, let me know, because we have something to fight for (and a lot of work to do to achieve it): peace, prosperity, liberty, and justice for ALL.

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