Or at least, I gather they think we are.
Seen on Facebook, the Seventh Level of Hell these days:
Mr. Pierce (whoever he is) does not appear to understand the difference between the 50 US states and the rest of the world.
The 50 US states are a political union of quasi-independent states which have agreed upon a common Federal law that binds all 50 of them and is (at least in theory) equally valid throughout. Citizens of these 50 states are also citizens of the United States, and the 50 states have, by and large (with some significant exceptions like licensing) agreed that their state laws are reciprocally binding upon anyone who enters their state from another US state. For instance, no married folks have to get remarried because they move from one state to another. For another instance, if you commit a criminal act in one state, and flee to another, in general you will be extradited to the former by the latter when you get caught.
But as I said, there are some significant exceptions. For instance, why can’t I legally carry a gat in Maryland and 17 other states (not to mention Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and other insular territories and possessions of the US)? I mean, I have an Indiana gun permit that is reciprocally-valid in 32 states. My Indiana driver’s license is good in all 50 states plus the territories, so why not my Indiana LTCH? Clearly we need to open up these internal borders immediately, immediately, immediately! Harrumph! (I didn’t get a “harrumph” out of Maryland, New York, or the other 16 states that don’t recognize my Indiana LTCH.)
Why aren’t all professional licenses reciprocally-valid in all 50 states? (Because they’re union cards, that’s why, but we’ll gloss over that.)
All this is beside the fact that US internal (state) borders are effectively non-existent because all 50 states have subscribed to the same federal Constitution and federal body of law which explicitly prohibit internal border checkpoints (like California has in violation of said Constitution and body of federal law, although to be honest, I understand why).
There is really only one way to open up a US federal border. For instance, when Mexico signs on to the US Constitution, submits to US federal authority, and its states become stars in the US flag, we can open that federal border (but not Mexico’s southern border, which then becomes the US federal border). Though the way things are in northern Mexico right now, that’s really not likely to happen. At any rate, the point is that you have become a US state, territory, or other possession in order to enjoy the “open borders” regime that we’ve had since 1776. (Or at least since 1789.)
Given the political upheaval currently roiling northern Mexico, I’m not sure why anyone would be for opening our southern border. In fact, I think we ought to pull troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan and send them down to Sinaloa state to take out the Mexican gangs, thereby doing a solid for the Mexican President, even if he is a dirty socialist. And until we do that, the President ought to suspend posse comitatus and send a shitload of troops down to secure the border, with an ROE of “shoot to kill.”
So, Mr. Leonard Pierce, you’re a fucking idiot and you should feel free to cross the border into Mexico or Canada at any time. Here’s a hint: They don’t react well to illegal immigrants, either.