Koch-Backed CATO Institute: ‘Time for the U.S. to Have Open Borders’

The Cato Institute, a think tank partially founded by the billionaire, pro-mass immigration Koch brothers, is advocating for full open borders to the United States.

In an op-ed for USA Today, the Cato Institute’s Director of Economic Studies, Jeffrey Miron, says the U.S. “has nothing to fear, and much to gain, from open borders,” saying that Americans should “forget” about putting a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration.

Miron downplayed the negative impact open borders would have on American citizens, writing:

Immigrants will not flood into America, although the rate of immigration might increase. Instead, much of the immigration will be temporary. Return migration happens because most people want to be near their families, surrounded by their own language, culture or religion. [Emphasis added]

…

Crime will not skyrocket. Available evidence shows that immigrants are no more crime-prone than natives. And the additional immigrants likely to enter under open borders would plausibly be even less so, because they have shown respect for the law by not immigrating illegally. [Emphasis added]

Terrorists could well enter via open borders, but they do so now illicitly. Little evidence suggests that our immigration restrictions prevent terrorist attacks. [Emphasis added]