Open%20borders%20The%20case%20against%20immigration%20controls%20-%20Teresa%20Hayter

Introduction 7
merely led to demands for more. The fate of the political refugees who are
now attempting to flee to Britain could turn out to be similar.
By far the most important reason for opposing immigration controls is that
they impose harsh suffering and injustice on those who attempt to migrate,
or to flee for their lives and liberty. The issue is whether the purposes
immigration controls are intended to serve justify the imposition of such
suffering. Controls are supposed to stop people migrating to the countries
which enforce them. They are supposed to preserve and enhance the wealth
of those countries against the perceived threats posed by immigration, and
so to reassure people who believe that uncontrolled immigration might
reduce them to Third World conditions. They are supposed to meet the
concerns of racists and so reduce racism. They are supposed to control crossborder
crime. In none of these objectives are they very effective or useful. In
reality they increase, rather than decrease, both racism and crime, and they
threaten to undermine the human rights not just of migrants and refugees,
but of the existing inhabitants of the rich countries which are trying to
exclude them. Immigration controls should be abandoned.