Immigration is NOT a Fundamental Right

TOPICS:ImmigrationKrishna Chandrasekaran
MARCH 3, 2024

Op-
Ed by Krishna Chandrasekaran

This post will explain why neither immigration nor entry into a country is a fundamental right,
which is defined here for reference.

A person claiming a fundamental right to enter any country or nation, especially if everybody
claims this right, would force the country being entered to accept and to admit the person
claiming the right. However, if the country doesn’t desire or voluntarily accept the entry, then the
claimed right to entry would force the country being entered to accept the entry against its will,
violating the key criterion of a fundamental right. Therefore, entry into a country or nation
cannot validly be claimed as a fundamental right.

In cases where a person trying to enter the country has either legal citizenship, that person does
have a right to entry, as denying such entry would violate his/her fundamental property and
citizenship rights.

As such, when any nation denies entry to non-citizens, the nation is not violating anybody’s
fundamental rights. Therefore, denying entry to such non-citizens is an absolutely legitimate use
of government power, as the exercise of such power violates the fundamental rights of nobody.

Why Does This Matter?

In the context of the time of this writing, currently illegal immigration is rampant, to say the very
least, in the United States of America (U.S.), especially along the southern border with Mexico.
The numbers of illegal immigrants are staggering, and therefore more than qualify as an
invasion, about which the U.S. federal government chooses to enable, condone, and even
encourage, going as far as undermining the efforts by border states like Texas to thwart the
border invasion.

There is a huge divide in the U.S. regarding whether illegal immigration should be thwarted.
Overall, the Democratic Party favors unrestricted illegal immigration, as it degrades U.S. cultural
values and heritage, along with amplifying the voter base of the party, as the vast majority of
illegal immigrants vote Democrat. This is the real reason the Democratic Party favors more
illegal immigration: to amplify their voter base, not out of any altruism, contrary to the party’s
deceptive public claims.

The Republican Party (GOP), on the other hand, is more complex. On the one hand, the GOP,
especially the part that supports Donald Trump, the 45th U.S. President, is very sincerely
opposed to illegal immigration and articulates their opposition very clearly. However, some
elements of the GOP don’t actively oppose illegal immigration; though they may say they do,
they take no actions to back up the tough talk. The other parties, such as the Libertarian and
Green Parties, are much smaller and also don’t generally oppose illegal immigration and/or think
it’s a major crisis.