Freeing Immigration Could Boost Economic Growth

The gap between labour's rewards in the poor world and the rich, even for something as menial as clearing tables, dwarfs the gap between the prices of traded goods from different parts of the world. The potential gains from liberalising migration therefore dwarf those from removing barriers to world trade...Although many more immigrants arrive legally than hidden in trucks or boats, voters fret that governments have lost control of who enters their country...immigration and immigrants are here to stay. Powerful economic forces are at work. It is impossible to separate the globalisation of trade and capital from the global movement of people."