The headlines are dominated by Republican and Democratic Party presidential candidate nominees’ therefore, many people may be unaware of 34-year-old Austin Peterson, who is hoping to win the nomination for the Libertarian Party. Although the chances of a Libertarian candidate winning the presidency are slim, many feel that third parties are vital to the democratic process.
Peterson has gained prominence for offering a different view to those of the main party candidates in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris last month. In an interview with The Loop, Peterson notes that politicians on both sides of the aisle have started proposing legislation that he calls “anti-liberty” since the attacks and suggests that such legislation is fairly unlikely to do much for the security of the United States.
Governors in more than 50% of states in the US started to proclaim closed-door policies with regard to immigrant refugees following the November attacks − something Peterson believes was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction. “I’m not the kind of person to jump at every single tragedy and start going back on the values that I hold,” he insists. “If the neo-conservatives are right, and the terrorists truly hate us for our freedoms, then isn’t restricting our freedoms essentially caving to the terrorists’ demands?”
Peterson claims that the taxpayer should not have to pay for refugees; instead, private citizens could sponsor them while being held responsible for their behavior once they get to the US. This is how marriage and family reunification asylum already works, with those with US citizenship able to apply for family/spouse visas.