I was busy with work for a few weeks, so I couldn't get involved in some of the discussions. One involved the responses to godless' post on changing the immigration system to favor those with high IQs. Some people suggested we return to a white immigration policy, to maintain the character of this country. At this point, I don't care that much about a white immigration policy because I'm a citizen, and I have rights. But, the idea that race would be so important in the eyes of the law disturbs me. Historically race was important (Oriental Exclusion Act, National Origins Act, etc.), but so was segregation and slavery. Life goes on, and history takes a step forward. But it did get me curious, how would one enforce white immigration? One of the first things that would happen if you stipulated that only European immigration would be allowed is that Europe would be swamped with colored immigrants from the Third World looking for EU citizenship. If you narrowed down the racial criteria, and said only those of "Caucasoid heritage" could immigrate, would we have INS making physical inspections at the borders? Many people from the Middle East would be able to pass, while those that wouldn't would probably lighten their hair and stay out of the sun and try to claim they'd been on vacation in tropical locale. What I'm trying to get at is that race-conscious policies enforced by the government start to propagate into absurdities. That is the problem with affirmative action. The tales of the blonde Latina getting a Harvard education on the backs of a million brown-skinned folk who face discrimination are slowly multiplying. I'm libertarian enough to want to keep government out of everything it possibly can stay out of, but practical enough to know that in this world of ours that might not be very much.... If one wants to preserve the character of this country, the easiest way to do that is to institute a freeze. As Hoppe notes, free trade serves as a substitute for free immigration. Though I tend to agree with godless about emphasizing immigration based on education, there are problems with this too. There have been incidents of Chinese showing up with impeccable but fraudulent documents showing how well educated they are. Certainly if we take the advice of many paleolibertarians and enforce an "invitation-only" policy using employers, one would find that people were evading or tricking the system somehow (start a front business that pretends to employ people but actually collects a fee for a residence permit at which point the immigrant might work on the black market). Just goes to show, one should think before one open's one's big mouth.