Peter Robinson concluded: “…and, perhaps most important, raise incomes

for poor people in much of the Caribbean–people who would then feel much

less tempted to immigrate to this country. (See? If you’re concerned about

immigration, you ought to support free trade…)”

I really can’t let you get away with that, Peter. The underlying assumption

there seems to be: If folk in the Caribbean want to immigrate to the U.S.,

there isn’t a darn thing we can do to stop them. Our best strategy is to

try to adjust our policies so that they get prosperous in their own

countries. Then they won’t want to come live in ours.

I hardly know where to start with such a farrago of fallacies. Of course

there are things we can do to stop them. We can police our borders, entry

points, and visitor visa programs, as every other country in the world does.

As for the prosperity of Caribbean folk — well, I am all for it, but I

can’t see that it is any concern of my government’s. They should be

worrying 24/7 about the prosperity and security of A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N-S. Let

the rest of the world shift for itself.