Today, Human Rights Watch (an international interest group that promotes human rights) released a statement in which it said that since Congress’s passage of a tough immigration law in 1996, around 1.6 million children and spouses have been separated from loved ones who were forced to leave the United States because they had arrived here illegally. In recent years, immigration has been a hotly debated issue. Some say that the United States should uphold its tradition as a “melting pot” where immigrants from all nations are welcome. Others argue that there are already too many people in the United States and that immigration should be tightly regulated.
In general, Thomas Jefferson was an outspoken advocate of immigration, believing that the right to move from one country to another is granted by nature, not by human laws. He wrote to Albert Gallatin in 1806:
“I hold the right of expatriation to be inherent in every man by the laws of nature, and incapable of being rightfully taken from him even by the united will of every other person in the nation. If the laws have provided no particular mode by which the right of expatriation may be exercised, the individual may do it by any effectual and unequivocal act or declaration.”
It would be interesting to find out how Jefferson would view immigration in our modern-day society. Would he continue to support immigration as a natural right, or would he make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration?
One Comment
I doubt Jefferson would even recognize the social welfare state that his republic has become.
Post a Comment