The Need for Border Controls

By Mark Krikorian on April 8, 2015

The New York Times ran a story this week on Bulgaria's fence on its border with Turkey, designed to keep Middle Eastern illegal aliens from sneaking into the EU (of which Bulgaria is now a member). Mildly interesting but not that unusual in itself, since Greece already has fenced its land border with Turkey.

What makes this barrier notable is that it replaces the one the Bulgarians dismantled in the late 1990s, a remnant of the Iron Curtain designed to keep people in. The story quotes the former government minister who had overseen the dismantling: "The theory then was that it was antidemocratic to have these kind of devices along the border."

But this is incorrect. In fact, both tyrannies and democracies require fences if they are to persist. Successful tyrannies, of course, need fences (and border controls in general) because otherwise people would flee, the Berlin Wall being the most memorable example. But in a turbulent world where travel is easier than ever before, democracies also need border controls if they are to avoid being preyed upon and/or overwhelmed.

In other words, not only are "these kind of devices on the border" not undemocratic, but democracy requires them if it is to survive. Immigration enthusiasts on the Right who disparage border controls are making the same mistake the Left makes with regard to guns — the physical things are only as good or bad as those who use them. Criminals need them to oppress their victims, free men to avoid oppression.

Bulgaria would have done better to have kept its Soviet-era border fortifications, but just had the guards face in the other direction.