# Trump and the right's immigration stances are pushing the left towards open borders. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 23, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-the-rights-immigration-stances-are-pushing-the-left-towards-open-borders/823407 "2018-10-23T23:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 142
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-the-rights-immigration-stances-are-pushing-the-left-towards-open-borders/823407/142 "2018-10-27T04:01:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have issues with the general principle of requiring business owners to enforce laws about events that occur outside of their business and which they have no control over. > > Telling a business owner he has to enforce laws over things like safety standards is reasonable; the owner has control of those. > > But why should a business owner be held responsible if one of his employees entered the country illegally ten years before the owner hired him? That’s like telling a business owner he’s responsible if one of his employees gets a DUI on his day off. I’m saying that serious attempts at immigration control should focus on the employer. For the US that means strengthening eVerify, which is currently strictly optional if you are not a government contractor. [E-Verify - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Verify) There are all manner of ways to fairly clamp down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. In northern Europe, illegal immigrants are forced to work in the underground economy, [if I’m reading the subtext of this paper properly](http://oecdobserver.org/news/archivestory.php/aid/190/Illegal_immigrants_and_the_labour_market.html). In other words they can’t easily secure ordinary jobs like they can in the US restaurant, farming or construction industries. > [@puddleglum](#): > > It is already illegal to hire anyone without verifying immigration status. Why do we need more laws to criminalize what is already illegal? Because unenforced laws are very similar to no law at all. Don’t get me wrong. Frankly I think this whole debate stinks of nativism. I’m almost indifferent between halving or doubling aggregate immigration quotas. I’m just saying that the proper focal point for immigration control is at the employer level. It’s not like somebody who overstays their tourist visa does any harm if they are just spending money here and are not receiving governmental funding. And discussion of border walls is silly. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-and-the-rights-immigration-stances-are-pushing-the-left-towards-open-borders/823407)._