Commentary
The Constitution doesn’t use the word “immigration.” Those consulting the constitutional debates of 1787–1790 (such as the essays in “The Federalist”) will find no discussion of the subject.
Consequently, some modern writers argue that, constitutionally, America should be an “open borders” country—that Congress has no power to limit immigration. Others say that there must be immigration-control authority somewhere in the Constitution. After all, the document alludes to a power in Congress, beginning in 1808, to prohibit the “Migration or Importation of … Persons” (Article I, Section 9, Clause 1). The word “Importation” refers to the slave trade, but “Migration” refers to the movement of free people….