I don’t think there is a libertarian immigration policy, but there are less-bad options within the confines of the nation-state.
The premise of nation-states is foundational to the concept of immigration. Nation-states, as political entities with defined borders and regulatory power over movement, provide the framework within which immigration occurs. Without these borders and regulations, immigration would lose its distinctiveness, blending into broader categories like migration or travel.
However, libertarian thought challenges the very notion of the nation-state, advocating for decentralized governance or even stateless societies. In such paradigms, immigration, as currently understood, would cease to exist. This presents a theoretical challenge for libertarians, as they grapple with applying their principles to the existing world order built on nation-states.
The tension between libertarian principles and the realities of nation-states creates contradictions. While nation-states enforce property rights, they also restrict freedom of movement through borders. Libertarians thus face the dilemma of reconciling their advocacy for both property rights and individual liberty within the framework of immigration policy.
In practice, libertarians must navigate within the constraints of the nation-state system. This often involves imperfect compromises, where either property rights or free movement is prioritized, sacrificing one for the other. Whether advocating for closed borders to protect existing societal structures or open borders to uphold individual liberty, libertarians are forced to choose between competing principles.
In the absence of a perfect solution, proposals for immigration policy fall on a spectrum between closed and open borders. These proposals aim to balance property rights and free movement but inevitably entail sacrifices on either end. Thus, there are no perfect libertarian solutions to the immigration debate, only imperfect compromises.
The inherent link between immigration and the nation-state paradigm poses a fundamental challenge to libertarian philosophy. While libertarians strive to transcend the limitations of the nation-state, they must contend with the practical realities it imposes. In doing so, they face the perpetual struggle of balancing property rights and free movement within the context of immigration policy, recognizing that perfection remains elusive in the realm of imperfect compromises.
