The American immigration system is far from easily navigable. Those who proudly declare that they are “all for immigration as long as it is legal” may be unfamiliar with how convoluted the immigration system is. The described “crisis” usually relates largely to how many immigrants there are in legal limbo. These immigrants in limbo are mostly those who are legally seeking immigration or acceptance as a refugee but are turned away without reason. Many wait in the U.S. not because they are unwilling to follow legal steps but because the legal steps are either extremely lengthy or unpredictable.
These immigrants waiting, of course, are sometimes placed in camps, where there are numerous accounts of human rights abuses. It is not just immigrants who are having their

After the recent election in France, the mainstream media is jubilant at the defeat of the far-right coalition. Polls up until election day predicted a likely win for the right-wing National Rally and its allies. This was not the case. While the National Rally won the most vote share, due to strategic voting and election runoffs, the right-wing coalition won third place in the National Assembly. Macron’s centrist coalition, Ensemble, won second place, with the leftist New Popular Front wining first place. Divisions in the assembly may be too wide to allow the leftist parties to push forward their most radical policies, but it is certainly a win for leftists who are hoping to overturn Macron’s feeble attempts at economic austerity.What of the National Rally? We are

Last month the governor of Louisiana signed several pieces of legislation related to education. The most controversial bill is LA HB71. This law requires all public K-12 schools in Louisiana to accept any monetary donations towards or displays of the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance, and the Ten Commandments. The media is running wild with this story, as if this is the first time that public schools are being required to push moral principles onto students. While the constitution does restrict the establishment of a state church and ensures high levels of societal religious freedom, it is logically impossible for a school to operate outside of a value system. Additionally, this piece of legislation references previous

A long battle surrounding Julian Assange has finally come to an end. Founder of divisive group, Wikileaks, Julian would gain popularity in 2010 when helping former US soldier, Chelsea Manning uncover and spread evidence that the United States and Australia committed war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Julian would also be charged with sexual assault by Sweden in 2010, a charge which would be disputed and later dropped. In 2012, following this charge, Assange fled Sweden and sought asylum in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian authorities gave Assange up to the United Kingdom in 2019 where he had been in prison since. Throughout 2019 and 2020 the United States would indict Assange on multiple charges ranging from conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, violating the Espionage

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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President George Washington famously warned against entangling alliances in his farewell address to Congress. However, now more than ever, it seems that escalations across the globe are tempting the United States to become increasingly involved in other countries’ dilemmas. American citizens and legislators must remember part of what made the American experiment so unique and resist those temptations. Here’s why.The US defense budget is unjustifiable. In 2021, American defense spending totaled $801 billion—larger than the next nine countries combined. The Department of Defense (DOD) was recently given an increased budget of $858 billion, and to make matters worse, that money is being used inefficiently: the DOD recently failed its fifth consecutive audit, with

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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Those unfamiliar with American electoral politics may be puzzled by America’s presidential elections. Recently, it seems as though most elections result in two largely unpopular candidates winning their party’s nomination, but no viable third option emerges. While the United States does allow candidates to run as independents or under third-party banners, these candidates rarely make an impact at the national level.The reasons for this are largely found in the Constitution, but other reasons exist as well. For example, the Electoral College has made it difficult for some voters to vote for a candidate who has no shot of winning their state’s Electoral College votes. The US is unique in that voters do not vote for their desired party or candidate but for a certain

Created in 1960, the United Nations–recognized state of Somalia is by almost all accounts a failed state. Yet it continues to assert dominance over regions that are seeking further autonomy or independence. The UN has listed self-determination as a human right, but the global neighborhood rarely sees this human right respected or enforced by the UN. This is likely because of how slow-moving the UN can be and because the nations that make up the UN have conflicting national interests. A United Nations that is slow to act has led to de facto independence or autonomy in some regions, with international recognition sometimes coming later. This is seen in the two northern regions of Somalia.The modern state of Somalia was not created through mutual agreement or due to

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard. Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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HR 7521, called the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is a recent development in American politics. TikTok has been in the news for the past few years, after the public became aware of its connections to China. The popular social media mobile app is currently owned by ByteDance Ltd, a Chinese company. China and the United States currently have a rocky relationship, leading to fears that the Chinese government could potentially use this app to spy on American citizens. Several states and counties voted to restrict the usage of the app in some ways, mostly disallowing government employees from using it on government-owned phones. Earlier this month, the United States Congress passed a piece of legislation that would restrict

On the 27th of March, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order which had the purpose of curbing speech deemed as “anti-semitic” on all state-run universities. Unfortunately, speech protection on public universities has been shaky in the past with universities attempting to restrict speech many times with varying levels of success. Supreme Court decision Healey v James 1972 states that “Among the rights protected by the First Amendment is the right of individuals to associate to further their personal beliefs. While the freedom of association is not explicitly set out in the Amendment, it has been held to be implicit in the freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition.” There is a long precedent of courts protecting speech, even what is considered hate