Trump’s Opponents Aren’t Arguing for “Open Borders”—But Maybe They Should

Particularly in light of the present catastrophe along the U.S.-Mexico border, we really should be having a larger public conversation regarding open borders.  Though still at the margins, I'm glad to see that the idea is coming back into public discourse as evidenced by these pieces in The Atlantic titled, The Case for Getting Rid of Borders—Completely and now this piece below in The New Yorker.

Putin and Trump critic, Masha Gessen is the author of several books, including her mmost recent one titled, The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.  I heard her speak this morning on MSNBC.  She refers to Trump as fascist even if our government isn't quite there, thankfully.  Long term, however, the direction we take as a country depends on us to get this fascist and his cabal out of power.

-Angela Valenzuela

Trump’s Opponents Aren’t Arguing for “Open Borders”—But Maybe They Should

By Masha Gessen

June 22, 2018

The conversation about borders too easily falls back on artificial distinctions between immigrants and refugees, and between political and private violence.

Photograph by Philip Montgomery for The New Yorker

Now seems like a good moment to admit that we don’t know what we are talking about when it comes to immigration. President Trump has signed an executive order that is intended to stop the separation of families at the border, but not the policy of prosecuting and detaining everyone who is seen as crossing the border illegally. If the Administration has its way, asylum seekers will be warehoused together with their family members. The number of ice facilities will grow, as will the number of people whom this country incarcerates without a clear legal procedure, and without an end in sight. And, if the recent history of the immigration debate is any indication, the opposition to Trump will have little to say about that.

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