There has been a blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007. The Gaza Strip has a population of 2 million on 141 square miles (about 25 miles long by 6 miles wide). Some trade is needed to support the population. A blockade contributes to economic hardship as it stops most trade, and will reduce smuggling, but can’t stop all smuggling. There are no easy answers here.
The U.S. Southern border is not an open border. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has more than 60,000 employees, and spent over $20 billion in 2023. I think that is substantive.
“An open border is a border that enables free movement of people (and often of goods) between jurisdictions with no restrictions on movement and is lacking substantive border control.”
The proposed U.S. immigration reforms that I’ve seen do not include open borders, instead these proposals increase border security. In politics, I interpret complaints about “open borders” as a call to spend more money to increase border security. Funding has increased in recent decades, and will probably continue to increase as there is bipartisan support for more U.S. border security.
Axios Explains: The myth of a U.S.-Mexico “open border”
“Reality check: Since 1992, the U.S. has quadrupled the number of Border Patrol agents — from less than 5,000 to nearly 20,000 today.”
“An Axios review of news stories found that the ‘open border’ language took off during the Obama administration as conservatives worked to thwart planned immigration reform.”
https://www.axios.com/2023/10/17/us-mexico-border-open-borders-myth
It would be more productive if people just said what they want (more border security) instead of vaguely describing the state of the world (perceived open borders). It also sends the wrong message. Do people really want to falsely advertise open borders? Focusing language on border security would do more to discourage possible immigrants.
Immigration affects the economy, and reforms have been long talked about, but little has been done. This forum is not the place to talk about specific reforms, but it is also not the place for political buzzwords like “open borders”. Previous thread discussing the U.S. border: