Obviously, the government of a free society must protect its citizens against invasions of their rights by immigrants as well as native criminals. Nevertheless, if citizen X chooses to provide transportation into the country and lodging to immigrant Y, then no government can interfere without violating the rights of both X and Y. At present, the idea of open borders raises the widespread fear that the "social-services" sector—meaning various subsidy programs of the welfare state—would immediately be overwhelmed by a flood of unwanted visitors. This difficulty, it should by now be clear, is purely an artifact of the mixed-economy system. In a free society, from which coercive subsidy programs have been eliminated, immigrants are no longer an economic burden, but rather a valued source of skills, new ideas, and cultural diversity.