Libertarian Borders
I’ve heard Libertarians state that libertarians don’t believe in borders. I think the statement in itself is disingenuous and should be rephrased. It is my understanding that libertarians only believe in borders when referring to owning and controlling private property. For those who don’t know, the Libertarian Party (LP) platform specifically opposes government interference with private property. The platform doesn’t refer to the Non-aggression Principal (NAP) by name but does acknowledge and support the use of force to defend life, liberty, and property against aggression. Furthermore, the platform plainly states that a legitimate roll of government is to protect property rights.
The LP platform seems to be vaguely inconsistent on borders not taking into account the entire scope of the private property spectrum stating “individuals not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries.”
When crossing that border comes with a personal net gain to the individual crossing and a net loss to the taxpaying citizens of the country it is more than a political boundary and becomes a property rights issue. It is not unreasonable to require a person to identify themselves when entering the “political boundary” of this or any other country when that person is going to benefit monetarily just by entering the country.
It is a legitimate role of government to vet those individuals attempting to cross. Someone attempting to skirt that vetting process is aggressing upon the people of the country. The LP platform does support defending the country against aggression and states “the maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the US against aggression.”