On the idea of states regulating aliens entering the state, to what right do governments have on the matter? While the individual man may no longer be in a state of nature, it is clear the international community never left it. Each independent government is properly in a state of nature. There exists not an overarching arbiter with authority to judge and enforce decrees over all independent governments. This causes each government to enter into a state of war with each other if it wants to correct a liberty that may have been infringed upon. If one government steals from another, the aggressee must declare a state of war to obtain recompense for the theft.
Now, it is a matter of fact that an alien is under no obligation to follow the laws and customs of a foreign government, as a government’s authority only extends to its own jurisdiction and its own boundaries. An alien outside that jurisdiction has not joined the societies’ compact, whether by explicit or tacit consent. Thus, between the alien and the foreign government, the state of nature and law of nature govern them as equals. The relationship is one in which a government cannot punish an alien of a foreign country. So to punish an alien is to enter a state of war against them, and accordingly, the alien would have the right to defend themselves as an equal. One who puts themselves in a state of war risks death for restricting another’s liberty.
However, when an alien enters in a sovereign state’s jurisdiction, they give tacit consent to the government to punish them (the alien) for breaking the government’s laws. This tacit consent reaches anyone within the territories of that government. The alien, when entering into the jurisdiction gains assumed benefits. The alien gains the ability to appeal to the government as the authority of the jurisdiction, two examples of this being the ability to seek government protection from violence and seek the government as a general arbiter of civil controversies. This leads to the conclusion that the alien, when entering into a sovereign foreign government’s jurisdiction, must follow its laws in exchange for enjoying benefits from its laws.
Since the alien must follow the laws of the foreign government, if it is the law of the foreign government to turn away aliens, then it has the jurisdiction over the alien to force compliance with this law without resorting to a state of war. By whom can such a law be enacted? The Legislative is the supreme power of law-making in a society. It is granted this power by the people, with each person giving their consent to the Legislative to make the laws. The impetus of the Legislative is to protect the property of the members of the society. Wouldn’t it be true that regulating or barring aliens from entering the jurisdiction of the Legislative extends from this protection of the people’s property? This derives from the notion that each member of the society has an inalienable right to their property that cannot be taken without their consent. In protecting this right, the Legislative may make obvious laws, like the punishment of those who trespass. The property owner maintains monopolistic power over their property, so when one tries to trespass, they are attempting to circumvent the property owner’s authority. This could lead the property owner and the trespasser into a state of war. For in this instance the trespasser is attempting to gain some power over the property owner without the property owner’s consent. The trespasser’s action of not respecting the property owner’s right to their land attempts to deprive and abrogate the property owner’s liberties.
Similarly, in the pursuit of protecting its citizen’s liberties and their property rights, declaring an alien to be trespassing when entering into the Legislature’s jurisdiction holds true logically. Aliens who wish to enter the jurisdiction have no rights to the protection of property within the jurisdiction because said property does not exist by virtue of them being aliens. Of course the Legislative could always make laws to enable aliens to enter its jurisdiction. But since the Legislative exists only at the consent of the property owners for their enablement, it derives from this that the Legislative can isolate the alien’s rights within its jurisdiction.
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