There was a story recently by John Ladd, an Arizona rancher
whose land happens to lie along the U.S. and Mexican border. While he “owns” the property,
apparently Border Patrol agents don’t take property rights very seriously.
Ladd says that his property rights are violated every
day. Border Patrol agents drive
vehicles through his property and fly helicopters right overhead, scaring his
horses and cattle. Ladd has even had
some of his animals killed when hit by vehicles.
He also has dogs that used to roam free on the large
property, but he has since had to build a fence to keep the dogs in a smaller
area. Border Patrol agents were
threatening to shoot the dogs for going after them. This might be understandable except that it was all taking
place on Ladd’s property.
To top this off, not only are border agents physically
violating Ladd’s space, they have also set up surveillance cameras, one of
which is pointed directly at Ladd’s house. In other words, he gets to feel the wrath of the federal
government from all angles.
Ladd says that things weren’t always this way, especially
prior to the 1990’s. At one time,
he says that ranchers from the U.S. and Mexico would help each other out. Now it is more like some kind of a
military zone.
The Consequences of
Government Power
This is another example where we see government power being
used against innocent people. It
is another example of where a government program does not produce the results
of the stated intentions.
Immigration is debated heavily in the U.S. But if you are in favor of closed
borders or a tight immigration policy, you have to be careful in asking the
federal government to accomplish this goal.
The government can’t keep drugs off the streets and it can’t
even keep drugs out of the prisons.
It can’t bring freedom to Iraq and Afghanistan. It can’t even operate a website for
Obamacare. Why would we think that
the government can solve an immigration problem without there being severe
negative consequences?
What are we willing to sacrifice in order to keep Mexicans
from crossing the border? Are we
willing to give up a great degree of our liberty? Are we willing to allow a massive fence to be built that could
also be used to keep Americans in?
There is one thing where the government has been successful
in stopping immigrants from crossing the border, although it has little to do
with Border Patrol agents. The
lousy economy has deterred some Mexicans from taking the risk of crossing the
border due to less opportunity for work.
The subject of immigration reminds me of terrorism. This isn’t to equate Mexican immigrants
with terrorists in any way, but there is a fear amongst many Americans of
both. It is an irrational fear for
different reasons. And in order to
relieve some of that fear, too many Americans are willing to grant vast amounts
of power to various government agencies.
Personally, I fear too much power in the hands of government
agents than I ever would with a Mexican looking for work.
It is only in a welfare state where people fear poor people
coming in and rich people leaving.
In a free society, there is no such concern. A free society will tend to attract those who want to work
and be productive.