Immigrants Your Country Needs Them

By Philippe Legrain

Almost everybody can agree that, over the long run, the world is better off because of human migration.  Think about North America.  And they can also agree that people should be able to leave a place without opportunity like Buffalo, NY and move to a place like San Jose, CA where they can have a better life.   But the rational agreement ends when the immigration is happening now and the immigrants are foreign. At an emotional instinctive level people don’t want strangers in the neighborhood.  This discordance between people’s philosophy and their politics is one of the themes of Philippe Legrain’s excellent book about Immigration.   

Legrain also makes very good arguments in favor of immigration.  He shows the needs of the developed world for more people, how migration helps the sending countries and the tremendous benefit it gives to migrants.  He uses examples from around the world to make these powerful arguments but they are not the best part of the book.  Philippe Legrain is also passionate about immigration.  In almost every chapter after he makes the rational argument he also makes the emotional arguments.  After taking about the border control situation in the EU and the USA he writes, “all our immigration controls have is a veneer of decency, which conveniently allows us to turn a blind eye to their terrible consequences.”

At the end of his introduction Legrain writes “If you believe that the world is an unequal place and that the rich should do more to help the poor, then freer international migration should be the next front in the battle for global economic justice.” He then makes a compelling case to show the truth of this assertion.  Well done.

Comments (2)

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I wish we could help individuals. All we can do is keep exposing the bad that the current system and try to convince other to stop supporting an immigration system that is so bad for the people stuck in it.

SimonB2 , December 18, 2009

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My neigbour has been in the US from Portugal for the past twenty one years. She still have no papers. She is always depressed and stressed out. She has kids and has not job. Her land lord always threat her with evacuation notices. She needs help. If anyone knows anything or can help in anyways, please let me know. She is a good woman. She is always helpful and nice to everyone.

farid , December 17, 2009

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