The perception of the need for newcomers to settle the interior of the country was completely different in the 20th century than it was in the 19th-and especially the last part of the 18th century during the inception of the United States.
I quite agree. However, I was responding to the mistaken idea of the author that we should return to enforcement of immigration restrictions like those put in place by the Founders. Which of course would mean none.
As I understand it, till the later 19th century one generally docked in America, walked off the boat and into the country. There just wasn't any real federal customs or immigration enforcement mechanism in place in today's terms.
The initial immigration restrictions only referenced criminals, Chinese, prostitutes and other undesirables.