Malum In Se versus Malum Prohibitum
19 May 2006
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
Charles Krauthammer says that "legalization [of illegal immigrants] is desperately unfair to the further millions who have been waiting in line at U.S. consulates around the world" ("Why is Border Security 'Conservative'?" May 19). Although often alleged, such unfairness is chimerical.
Entering America without Uncle Sam's approval would be unfair to those seeking legal entry only if doing so reduced the chances of those seeking legal entry to gain it, or if illegal entry increased the waiting time for legal entry. In fact, the opposite is true. By avoiding the queues for legal entry, illegal immigrants shorten these queues. Combined with the fact that illegal immigration doesn't reduce the number of legal entry slots, the shorter queues created by illegal immigrants arguably make entry for those seeking legal entry more likely and less time-consuming.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
Charles Krauthammer says that "legalization [of illegal immigrants] is desperately unfair to the further millions who have been waiting in line at U.S. consulates around the world" ("Why is Border Security 'Conservative'?" May 19). Although often alleged, such unfairness is chimerical.
Entering America without Uncle Sam's approval would be unfair to those seeking legal entry only if doing so reduced the chances of those seeking legal entry to gain it, or if illegal entry increased the waiting time for legal entry. In fact, the opposite is true. By avoiding the queues for legal entry, illegal immigrants shorten these queues. Combined with the fact that illegal immigration doesn't reduce the number of legal entry slots, the shorter queues created by illegal immigrants arguably make entry for those seeking legal entry more likely and less time-consuming.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Friday March 2, 2007 at 4:32pm