For a long time in the past century, the US didn't have any safety net. So whosoever came here essentially had to bootstrap themselves.
I believe you can have only one of the two - open borders, or social safety net. Having completely open borders with generous social safety net is mathematically impossible, unless you want to discriminate against the newcomers by denying them the benefits (which is, again, a bad thing according to many people).
I believe you can have only one of the two - open borders, or social safety net. Having completely open borders with generous social safety net is mathematically impossible, unless you want to discriminate against the newcomers by denying them the benefits (which is, again, a bad thing according to many people).