Long after Janet Napolitano, then Secretary of Homeland Security, asserted that the Obama Administration had “secured our borders,” national attention is focused as we go to press on the American Southwest, where tens of thousands of “unaccompanied” young people from Central America are flooding into the United States. President Obama is threatening to take additional unilateral executive actions if Congress will not rubber stamp his immigration agenda, which includes granting “legalization” (i.e., amnesty) to the millions of foreign nationals living here illegally, as well as sharply increasing legal immigration.

Despite a flood of media support for open borders, the public at large is wary. And among active Republican voters, a split between the grass roots of Main Street and the financial elites of Wall Street has erupted into open political warfare, as witnessed by the shocking primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. The latest survey from the Pew Research Center sheds light on the two groups: 71 percent of so-called “populist” Republicans believe that too much power is concentrated in large corporations, while only 39 percent believe that “free-trade” agreements benefit the U.S. compared with 68 percent of establishment Republicans. On the issue of immigration, 64 percent of the GOP establishment claims that current immigration policies strengthen our country, while only 17 percent of populist Republicans agree.

In this issue of The Social Contract, we focus on the efforts of key economic elitists to wage a campaign to buy open borders. They fund a galaxy of public advocacy groups, creating the illusion that large segments of the population favor their particular agenda. They have enjoyed a measure of success by disguising their goals under the misleading label of “comprehensive immigration reform” — a euphemism for open borders. Indeed, when average voters are asked if they think our immigration system needs to be fixed, they often answer “Yes.” But by “Yes” they think they are calling for securing our borders and returning the rule of law to our policies.

As John Vinson points out in his introductory essay to this issue:

The main advantage average citizens have is their numbers, not as isolated individuals, but as an organized and united force of opposition. That in turn will require a renewal of community spirit and national spirit… the billionaires fear such unity….

We hope this issue of The Social Contract will provide information useful to Main Street activists in the battle to reclaim the America of our Founders.