For every other issue on the planet, libertarians fervently believe Milton Friedman’s old adage, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” But for immigration, Friedman’s wise words suddenly fly out the window.

Libertarian think tank scholars would have you believe that importing cheap foreign labor is a win-win for everybody. Employers get cheap labor, immigrants get higher pay, and consumers get cheaper goods and services. American workers aren’t hurt, the libertarians claim, because native workers won’t do the jobs foreign workers will, and they actually benefit by using cheaper services to allow them to work longer hours in higher-paying professions (e.g., a lawyer who can work more billable hours since he can buy dinner instead of cooking it himself).