Guests in the Machine.

• Author: Varvaro, Matt
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

I was surprised to read Kerry Howley's praise for a guest worker program and her advocacy for its implementation in the United States ("Guests in the Machine," January). I find it hard to believe that any proponent of limited government would support such a program, which would undoubtedly require active involvement, as well as the devotion of expensive resources, by the federal government. It seems inconsistent with the traditional principles of libertarianism to promote a federal project of this magnitude. By simply enforcing the law and ensuring that every person employed by an American company is a taxpaying and law-abiding citizen, the federal government can take a much more direct approach to the immigration problem in a way that requires far less bureaucracy than a guest worker program.

Matt Varvaro

Port Washington, NY

Kerry Howley replies: Matt Varvaro forgets that the prohibition on free movement across our southern border is a massively expensive government program. In 1986 the U.S. Border Patrol had an annual budget of $151 million. Today it is $3.5 billion. Even by conservative...