Usually, when we write about the Cato Institute, we feature David J. Bier, the Institute's director of immigration studies, whose job is to lobby as hard as he can for open borders and amnesty. He's blamed President Donald Trump for the murder of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman in Chicago by a Venezuelan illegal alien who was caught and released at the border by the Biden administration in May 2023. He's also argued that illegal immigrants reduce the crime rate, and that because one in five residents in a home is or lives with someone who could be deported, it makes the prospect of mass deportation "insane." As we reported on Friday, he was triggered when Fox News' Bill Melugin reported that ICE had lodged a detainer for an illegal alien from Cuba who's been arrested for child abuse and arson and poured hot wax on her own children. "Illegal aliens can't commit crimes in the U.S. if they aren't released into the U.S.," Melugin told Bier.
On Saturday, we're moving on to law professor and Cato Institute Chair of Constitutional Studies Ilya Somin, who believes there's no such thing as just or humane mass deportation.
Let me be clear. When I say we should abolish ICE, I do NOT mean just the name. I mean abolish the agency and its functions. There should be no federal agency tasked with detaining and deporting immigrants in the interior. There is no such thing as just/humane mass deportation.… https://t.co/DdPmG73pUF
— Ilya Somin (@IlyaSomin) August 22, 2026
Chair of Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute:
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 22, 2026
“There should be no federal agency tasked with detaining and deporting immigrants in the interior.” https://t.co/fawMEERgDg
Why have immigration laws at all, if they're not enforced?
— Mark F. Proudman (@mfproudman) August 22, 2026
Interior deportation by federal agencies is far from the only method of enforcement. But we should indeed abolish all or most immigration restrictions, as described in my book Free to Move.
— Ilya Somin (@IlyaSomin) August 22, 2026
Yeah, we're not reading that.
That would destroy America.
— Mark F. Proudman (@mfproudman) August 22, 2026
A nation is a people, not merely a territory. Wasn't there a time when the great replacement theory was said to be a paranoid right-wing conspiracy theory?
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Does that mean you're also abolishing support for immigrant health care and welfare, too? Free to Move should also be Free to Starve and Fester? Worked real well in America in the 19th century, that is true.
— Paul Loudney (@PaulLoudney) August 22, 2026
You have to eliminate the welfare state then.
— DB Joeseph (@DavidBobJoeseph) August 22, 2026
Abolish all immigration restrictions? Ok, then end all the monetary benefits they can receive when they enter the country. No housing or food assistance. No free healthcare.
— LV (@Senteney) August 22, 2026
I imagine your book “Free to Move” was printed before the invasion of Ceuta.
— Joseph Lee (@J95leeLee) August 22, 2026
What is the LOGICAL conclusion of a nation where deportation is optional? Eternal prosperity? The great stabilization of the housing market?
You people are insane.
The radical position is no longer “open borders.” It’s open borders with no one allowed to enforce the law once you get here.
— Mehek Cooke🇺🇸 (@MehekCooke) August 22, 2026
This is a one-way ratchet: entry can happen, removal cannot.
Mass deportation of those illegally in the country is just by the very definition.
— Frank フランク (@richardrahl1086) August 22, 2026
Humane is making sure they never get here in the first place
Why don't you just admit that you want the dissolution of the United States?
— 🇺🇸 America's Great (@Gunalizer) August 22, 2026
How would a nation protect its sovereignty? Likewise you'd like the US armed forces to be abolished too, correct?
You're a radical enemy of the United States. It's as simple as that.
You’re free to get the fuck out of the US and take this shit somewhere else.
— cbcoulter (@cbcoulter) August 22, 2026
Counterpoint: Detain then deport every single last illegal immigrant, then detain and deport every single last seditious fuck — credentialed or otherwise — agitating to undermine national sovereignty by running interference for invaders.
— Mulder’s Long Fight for Account Reinstatement (@proteinwisdom) August 22, 2026
No. Move to Europe if you want open borders.
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) August 22, 2026
“There is no such thing as just/humane policing”
— 𝔻𝕠𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝔽𝕒𝕥𝕖 (@georg3) August 22, 2026
“There is no such thing as just/humane incarceration”
“There is no such thing as just/humane taxation”
“There is no such thing as just/humane wealth”
Congrats. You’re in special company. And your logic is equally correct.
At least they're open about it, whether they say mass deportation is unjust or insane. Any argument Cato can make that illegal immigration is good for the country, it will make.
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