Constitution, Immigration & Naturalization, Border Crossing

What does the Constitution say on this subject? Only one thing. That Congress has the power to establish an Rule of Naturalization. Naturalization is the process by which foreign-born people become citizens. But, there was no such process in the formative years. In the 15 to 1700s, people came across the border. And that was that. Eventually foreign countries set up colonies. Free passage to those colonies was allowed for citizens of those countries.

What I'm about to say will probably be unpopular in today's political climate, but nowhere does the Constitution give power to Congress to close the border. For most of our history, the United States has had an open border policy. There have been various rules of Naturalization, but that was about how people who crossed the border would become citizens. Once in a while Congress would pass laws about who can and cannot be allowed entrance into this Country, but most of the time they were based on political whims. In fact, Naturalization rules were also politically motivated. It prevented people from becoming citizens, and thus had the right to vote against those in power. And this went on throughout much of our history.

From what I can tell, we didn't have a closed border policy until after World War 2. That's when it began that it was necessary to have a Passport to come into the Country. When here, if you were to stay, you needed some form of documentation permitting you to stay. But for most of our history that was not so. Question, are those laws Constitutional? I don't believe so. As I said before, nowhere does the Constitution give Congress the power to close the border.

Someone might say, "Congress isn't closing the border, they are just regulating it." But that isn't Constitutional either. So the Constitutional border policy is an open border policy. And that will be my policy when I am President. However, I am open to hear what others have to say about this issue. But, as I pointed out several times, I believe the Constitution is the highest law of the land, not laws passed on a Congressional whim.