Statist claim: Illegal immigration should be stopped.

Fallacy:

"Illegal immigrants are criminals! Their presence in this country is a crime. They are stealing our jobs, smuggling contraband, and using our tax dollars in government services!"

Response:

"State" property is a fiction. Being on the "wrong" side of a state-declared "border" is not rational or moral justification for harming someone. Since the state rightly owns nothing, there is no crime in crossing a border without gang permission; the only people that need be consulted are the owners of the property a traveler crosses. If a farmer wants someone to work for him on his land, and they find a place to stay (bought, rented, or borrowed), it is nobody else's business. His job is a contract between two people. If a third party coerces people who create a non-coercive contract he does not like, he is committing a crime. The people making the agreement are not criminals. Likewise, people engaging in noncoercive trade in goods forbidden by the state are not committing any crime.

All government services are funded by extortion, and the last objection presumes the extortion-funded services are legitimate. Arguing that everyone should suffer equally is ignoring the criminal extortion. Arguing that some people should be excluded from services based on geography is playing the extortionist's game and justifying the crime. (LT, DBR)


See also: The Case for Open Borders