Most conservatives and liberals that I know are unrepentant about their ostensible xenophobia when it comes to calls for border control. The thinking goes that we have a sovereign 'right' to control our borders and the only one that matters is Mexico. A conservative colleague concludes in a recent rather conflicting missive ;
The failure to secure the border in a time of emergency in order to protect the health and welfare of American citizens is a sign that this administration has chosen political correctness over the safety of its own citizens. It's sad to say, but I don't believe a Republican administration would take the necessary steps either. 
I am sure that by mid-May the whole Swine Flu scare will be over and the hype will have died down. The American borders will remain wide open for illegal immigrants and terrorists to enter the country; the pharmaceutical companies will have made billions; the media companies will have made hundreds of millions from pharmaceutical company advertising and the administration will take credit for a job well done. Thank God it wasn't a real emergency!
While the rhetoric may not be as incendiary, my own Libertarian Party released a similar statement last week to the alarm of many members, leaders and hardcore activists. It may not be politically popular to advocate an 'open' border, but certainly consideration over the reality of immigration and subsequent public policy is something not being considered without the attendant fears of 'pandemic' by either 'side' that controls this issue.
My question is this, just because someone steps over a border, does it necessarily follow that they are inherently 'illegal' despite not having committed any real crime other than a definition of their citizenship or the action of their travels ? In other words, without the right paperwork or approval to travel, one is automatically illegal based on their movements and existence. This is very true and apparent in most of these conservative and liberal minds. After all, it's why we have passports and green cards. All very self apparent stuff to most in the normal political spectrums. Thank the intelligent designer for us un-normals. The reality is not tanks or terrorists at the southern most border. Just people moving around. If you don't want their money, offers to be employed or rent them a house, don't. 
It's more than just the Southern American border too. The United States is stationed in countries throughout the world where they regularly define acceptable border activity and control. The Korean Armistice is an excellent example of diplomacy and circumstance which creates a highly artificial boundary between the people of that peninsula which could result in an international meltdown at any moment. The current border situation between Afghanistan and Pakistan heralds a particularly troublesome result. With no real control over that situation, a real breach of sovereignty results in every strike against the 'bad guys'. Imagine if Canada were likewise targeting miscreants in Detroit doing something irksome to their national sensibility.
Beyond this 'right to control' don't we have a better sense of how to relate to our fellow human being ? Every time I hear someone howl about the loss of American jobs, it never comes from someone who considers themselves an employer. Rather it's some vague sense that we're all entitled to prosperity as a national clan, as if the average GM or Honda job was ours to control in the first place, short of being an actual stockholder or in true equity position.
Somehow after hundreds of years of fighting, the Europeans have developed a sense that travel and commerce between countries is a desirable (these ideas were always present despite the rise of powerful industrial or feudal states), healthy thing. Beyond the onerous task of identifying this habit as sovereign or community borne, it just seems right. Leave people alone until or unless they've done something truly wrong.
Yes, don't give out free schooling, medical and other public amenities (ie minimum wages etc.) and you'll see a better balance. But that would also be true within our borders too. When idiots like Michael Savage express sentiments of hate and abuse on those who would allow free travel and employment between peoples and even countries prosper, you know you're doing something right.
Unfortunately, my own LP has deemed it fit to define the control of borders in the party platform and the conservatoid drones at HQ are more than willing to parrot these types that spew everyday (add Hannity and Limbaugh references here) for the purpose of hounding the new regime.
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