Extreme Idea: Is it better for nations to loosen up on migration control?
Recently, I came across this blog post from New Scientist entitled “Migration controls are the new apartheid”. In that post, Senior Environment Correspondent Fred Pearce had an exteme proposition: why not open up the world’s borders to migrants?
“It has always struck me as odd that we are so keen to allow the flow of cash and goods across borders without let or hindrance, but try so hard to deny the same rights to people. That is both unfair and a denial of the free-market theories on which much of the world’s economy is built.
Surely if free trade and the free movement of capital is so good for an efficient global economy, then the same should apply to the free movement of labour?”
Source: “Migration controls are the new apartheid” by Fred Pearce, NewScientist.com
My response to this article is that I don’t think the basic idea – the dissolution of national borders – is far fetched. I think that as technology brings us faster, more efficient transportation over land or sea, then it only makes sense that migration controls will become more loose. An example of this is the European Union’s Schengen Agreement, which allowed residents of participating countries to travel more easily through their borders. Even some countries outside the EU can travel visa-free in member states for 90 days. More recently, Cambodia signed a visa exemption agreement with Vietnam. It’s possible that in a few decades, round-the-world travelers will have less bureaucratic barriers to overcome, or maybe even none at all.
Having said that, I think this is something that should happen incrementally, over a very long period of time. This will allow governments and citizens alike to adjust to the consequences of lowering immigration restrictions. It’s not something the world has to consciously make an effort to do, either. I believe that this kind of thing will come naturally by itself.
What do you think? Do you think it’s possible that migration control will be nonexistent someday? What are your reactions?
January 8th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I think it’s relatively easy to implement within a region with similar economies such as Western Europe or SE Asia. The question would be how it would impact wealthier countries who have poorer countries surrounding them: North Africa/Southern Europe or United States/Mexico.
I agree that it would have to be a very slow process. That being said, most of the business barriers are gone with the implementation of multinational corporation and outsourcing. It’s only a matter of time before countries allow the workers to physically enter their countries at a greater rate.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
I agree 100% with the idea. In my opinion, nationalism is just another form of racism. But, we’re not there yet as a world society. And to those who want to keep migrant workers out and say they are a drain on the economy: 1. I don’t see you out there doing those jobs they do so they are adding to the economy, 2. 99% or more of the world’s population including those of us in the United States of America are immigrants or descendants thereof. Something to keep in mind.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:19 am
This isn’t a well thought out proposition. Doing something like this in the US would have similar ramifications for blue-collar workers as does outsourcing – loss of jobs to cheap labor and exploitation of this cheap labor. Furthermore, as has been noted in previous posts, migrant workers are extremely hard to properly assimilate. You would essentially find yourselves with a permanent underclass that has no societal ties and no representation.
Nationalism is dogma and is unhealthy. But protecting the rights of citizens and their own culture is not nationalism. Moreover, the fact that America is a nation of immigrants says nothing about this particular issue – in fact, it is quite a reductive and simplistic argument. This country was populated by immigrants at a time when the country was ready for and needed expansion. The same circumstances no longer apply, and our immigration laws are already failing.
Changing some visa rules can work, but taking a pencil eraser to borders is not practical, realistic nor in the best interests of citizens.