Senate Trades Mexicans for Drones

First Marco Rubio proposed the language requirement, and now we get this (via Reuters):

Federal agents on the U.S.-Mexican border would double to about 40,000 under a deal reached on Thursday in the Democratic-led Senate to draw more Republicans to a landmark immigration bill headed toward anticipated passage.  

Some questioned the costs and benefits of up to $50 billion in the extra border security, which also will include high-tech surveillance equipment such as manned and unmanned aerial vehicles, radar and seismic devices.

At a time when we can't trust the government's surveillance apparatus, do we really want an increase in domestic drone use?

This is one issue where the recently publicly-known libertarian figures, like Ron Paul, are simply wrong. People have a right to make a life in this country, just like most of their ancestors did, because our government rests on documents that clearly state that all people are created equal, not just all native-born citizens.

That old, paleolibertatarian and frankly nativist saw must be cast aside, for how can we claim to offer freedom to the world if willing members of that world can't experience it?

And I don't say this because I merely disagree with them, but rather because harsh restrictions on immigration are not in keeping with principles of libertarianism, and with the principles of a modern free society.

It's a shame that Rubio, who runs campaign ads in Spanish, picked up this obsolete banner, and it's a shame that some GOP members are willing to use the civil rights of millions as a bargaining chip to bolster their security state.