Immigrants

Immigrants Plot Summary

Introduction

Throughout human history, people have moved across borders seeking better lives. In 1990s Spain, Lasso Kourouma fled civil war in Côte d'Ivoire only to face dangerous border crossings, exploitation, and years of homelessness before finding stability. His story represents just one thread in the complex tapestry of global migration—a phenomenon that has shaped civilizations, built nations, and transformed cultures for millennia. Yet today's migration debates often ignore this historical context, focusing instead on fears of cultural dilution, economic competition, and security threats. Migration represents one of humanity's most profound paradoxes. While the free movement of goods, capital, and information is celebrated as essential to global prosperity, the movement of people faces increasing restrictions. This contradiction lies at the heart of contemporary migration policy. This exploration examines how migration patterns have evolved from the mass European exodus of the 19th century to today's diverse flows, challenges common misconceptions about immigration's economic impacts, and reveals how cultural diversity drives innovation in advanced economies. For policymakers, business leaders, and concerned citizens alike, understanding migration's complex realities has never been more essential to building societies that harness human mobility's benefits while addressing its legitimate challenges.

Chapter 1: The Human Cost of Border Controls (1990s-2000s)

The late 1990s and early 2000s witnessed an intensification of border control measures across developed nations, creating what some scholars have called an "unacknowledged war" against migration. As wealthy countries constructed increasingly sophisticated barriers—from Spain's six-meter-high fences in Ceuta and Melilla to America's expanded Border Patrol operations—the human consequences grew increasingly severe. Between 1993 and 2006, organizations documented over seven thousand deaths directly attributable to Europe's border policies, with most victims perishing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels. America's southern border proved equally deadly, with the U.S. Border Patrol recording 464 deaths in just twelve months during 2005 alone. These tragedies often unfolded far from public view. Lasso Kourouma's journey from civil war in Côte d'Ivoire to Spain exemplifies the human cost. After living in makeshift camps near Ceuta and repeatedly attempting to breach Spain's elaborate border defenses, he paid €1,500 for passage on a small boat to the Canary Islands. The vessel sank, many drowned, and Lasso survived only to be imprisoned for forty days before being released onto the streets of Malaga with nothing. He slept rough for two years before finally finding work as a nightclub security guard. His experience represents just one of countless human tragedies occurring at borders worldwide. The cruel irony of these border control regimes is their profound ineffectiveness. Despite massive investments in enforcement, approximately 500,000 migrants continued to enter America illegally each year during this period, with another 800,000 entering "fortress Europe." Some entered clandestinely through porous borders, others used forged documents, while many simply overstayed visas or worked illegally on student or tourist permits. By raising the costs and risks of migration, these controls primarily diverted migrants from legal channels to illegal ones, creating a growing market for criminal smuggling networks while leaving migrants increasingly vulnerable to exploitation. For those who succeeded in crossing borders without documentation, the suffering often continued. Without work permits, migrants were forced into black-market jobs that paid pittance and could be dangerous. Stephan from Ukraine worked in a London kebab shop for £2 an hour. Alex from Brazil burned both hands washing dishes. Yemisrach, an Ethiopian journalist seeking asylum in America, was exploited by an immigration lawyer. Illegal status made immigrants afraid to seek help even in emergencies—during a building fire in Malaga, many immigrants were too afraid to come out, resulting in severe burns. The criminalization of migration created a self-reinforcing cycle of illegality and exploitation. As governments made it harder for people to cross borders legally, they pushed more immigrants into the hands of people-smugglers, often criminal gangs charging exorbitant fees. This undermined the rule of law, bolstered criminality, and promoted an untaxed and unregulated black economy. The human suffering caused by these policies extended far beyond border zones, creating shadow populations vulnerable to exploitation and abuse throughout wealthy societies. By the mid-2000s, the contradictions of this approach were becoming increasingly apparent. The same governments that spoke of combating human trafficking were implementing border policies that made trafficking more profitable. Nations that championed human rights abroad were creating humanitarian crises at their own borders. And societies that needed immigrant labor to sustain their economies were criminalizing the very workers they depended upon. This disconnect between rhetoric and reality would eventually force a reconsideration of migration policies in many developed nations, though meaningful reform would prove elusive in the face of growing populist backlash.

Chapter 2: Historical Migration Patterns: From Old World to New

Human migration has existed since time immemorial, but the modern system of border controls is a relatively recent invention. The United States pioneered the bureaucracy of reception centers, passport control, and immigration criteria in the late nineteenth century, but initially these were designed to administer rather than curtail migrant flows—only one in fifty migrants arriving at Ellis Island was denied entry. It was only after World War I that controls were systematically used to restrict the movement of people across borders in the way countries routinely do today. Mass international migration took off in the early nineteenth century, enabled by revolutionary advances in transport technology. As slow sailboats gave way to steamships and railways expanded across continents, long-distance travel became faster, cheaper, and more accessible to ordinary people. In the century after 1820, around 60 million Europeans crossed the Atlantic to settle in the New World. Three-fifths went to the United States, while others headed to Canada and Latin America. Some moved to Australia and New Zealand, while others migrated within Europe. This massive population movement transformed both sending and receiving societies, creating new nations while alleviating population pressures in Europe. Economic factors drove this great migration. The Americas and Australia were rich in natural resources but short of labor, offering wages much higher than in Europe. Workers were needed to farm land, mine minerals, build railways, and staff factories. The young nation states also needed citizens to entrench control over vast territories. By 1910, one in seven people in the United States was foreign-born, reflecting the central role of immigration in the nation's development. However, the First World War slowed migration to a trickle, and the Great Depression that followed the 1929 Wall Street Crash effectively killed off mass migration as governments systematically sought to limit it. Since World War II, migration patterns have shifted dramatically from the Old World to the New. Europe has transformed from a continent of emigration to one of immigration, with both Europe and North America drawing immigrants from the rest of the world. From the 1950s until the 1973 oil crisis, European countries actively imported foreign workers from poorer countries on the continent's periphery and from former colonies. Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland attracted workers first from southern Europe and then from Turkey and North Africa, while Britain brought in people from the Caribbean, Pakistan, and other Commonwealth countries. After 1973, European countries sought to end this influx, but continued to admit family members of existing immigrants and small numbers of refugees. Since the 1980s, previously poor countries on Europe's periphery have not only enticed some of their citizens back but have attracted large numbers of immigrants themselves. Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece have all seen significant immigration in recent decades, transforming their formerly homogeneous societies. Meanwhile, the United States has experienced a surge in immigration since the 1970s, with most newcomers coming from Latin America and Asia rather than Europe. Today, despite perceptions of massive global migration, only about 3% of the world's population are international migrants. However, they are concentrated in a handful of rich countries with low birth rates, where they account for a large and rising share of the population. In the United States, the foreign-born population has soared from 10 million in 1970 to over 37 million in 2004. One in eight Americans, one in five Canadians, and nearly one in four Australians were born abroad. This changing demographic reality lies at the heart of contemporary debates about immigration policy, as societies grapple with the economic benefits and cultural challenges of increasing diversity.

Chapter 3: Economic Necessity: The Case for Low-Skilled Migration

We take it for granted that restrictions on the movement of people should exist, particularly that people in poor countries should be confined within their national borders. We rarely question whether we would all be better off if these latter-day serfs were set free, allowing them to be vastly more productive in richer economies. The potential gains from freer migration could be enormous—some economists estimate that removing immigration controls could more than double the size of the world economy by allowing workers to move to where they can be most productive. The economic case for low-skilled migration rests on three fundamental truths that contradict common misconceptions. First, there aren't only so many jobs to go around—each person creates work for others through their consumption and economic activity, so more people means more work needs doing. Second, immigrants and locals rarely compete for the same jobs—a Mexican peasant with poor English is not competing with an American high school graduate for the same positions. Third, immigrants generally come to work, not to live off welfare—the economic incentives for work far outweigh any benefits from welfare dependency, and most immigrants have limited access to social benefits anyway. A growing gap has emerged between the skills and aspirations of most North Americans and Europeans and the jobs available in advanced economies. As rich-country workers become more educated and ambitious, they increasingly shun low-skilled jobs. Yet even modern economies continue to rely on such work. Every hotel requires not just managers but also receptionists, bellboys, chambermaids, and cleaners. Every hospital needs not just doctors but also cleaners, cooks, and security staff. And as societies age and grow richer, demand for relatively low-skilled, labor-intensive services rises dramatically, particularly in healthcare, childcare, and elder care. In the United States, only about a third of the workforce works in management, professional, and other high-end occupations to which highly skilled natives aspire. Another 38% work in jobs to which less skilled natives aspire, such as sales and administration. That leaves over 28% of jobs that most less-skilled natives would rather not do at all—healthcare support, food preparation, cleaning, construction, and transport. As the number of low-skilled natives shrinks due to rising education levels, the shortage of people to do such work will only grow, creating a structural demand for immigrant labor. Many services in rich countries must be provided locally. London's streets can only be cleaned on the spot. New York cabs can only be driven by people who live nearby. Silicon Valley children can only be looked after by nannies who live in the area. Old people in Munich cannot be helped to cook and wash over the internet. If North Americans and Europeans are to specialize in higher-skilled jobs, these lower-skilled positions must primarily be filled by immigrants who are willing to do them at wages that make the services economically viable. The benefits of this arrangement are analogous to those of international trade. Immigration allows rich countries to import low-cost, labor-intensive services from poor countries. This reduces the cost of such services, allowing more people to benefit from them, while freeing up Americans and Europeans to pursue better-paid and more productive careers. Immigrants don't cost natives their jobs; they allow them to specialize in different ones. Because immigrants are willing to work at lower wages, many more unskilled jobs are created that would not otherwise exist, expanding the overall economy rather than taking a fixed slice of it. This complementarity between immigrant and native workers explains why studies consistently find minimal negative effects of immigration on native wages and employment.

Chapter 4: The Global Talent Contest: Competition for Skilled Workers

By the early 2000s, a fierce global competition for skilled workers had emerged among developed nations. Canada actively recruited skilled workers through a points system that rewarded education, language skills, and work experience. In 2004, it admitted 59,300 highly skilled workers and businesspeople. Australia was similarly aggressive in its pursuit of talent, holding recruitment fairs worldwide and using a detailed points system that rewarded youth, English proficiency, and recognized skills. In 2003, over 66,000 workers entered through Australia's skilled migrant program. Europe gradually awakened to this competition. Britain published a five-year plan in 2005 to create a system modeled on Australia's, with points allocated according to qualifications, work experience, and income. France made it easier for graduates and skilled people to enter, while the Netherlands enacted a law to admit "knowledge migrants" for up to five years. Even Germany, itself targeted by recruiters from other countries, cautiously opened doors for highly qualified workers. This shift represented a significant departure from Europe's traditional reluctance to embrace immigration as a solution to economic challenges. The benefits of skilled migration are threefold. First, foreigners may bring different or superior skills and qualities that complement those of native workers. Second, talented foreigners boost innovation, the elixir of long-term economic growth. A study found that a 10% rise in the share of foreign graduate students increases total US patent applications by 4.8%, demonstrating the direct link between immigration and innovation. Third, in industries where companies cluster in a single location—like Silicon Valley or London's financial district—there are significant advantages to drawing from the widest possible talent pool to maintain competitive advantage. Silicon Valley represents perhaps the most compelling example of how skilled migration drives innovation and economic growth. By the late 1990s, Chinese and Indian engineers were running 29 percent of Silicon Valley's technology businesses, collectively accounting for more than $19.5 billion in sales and 73,000 jobs. These immigrant entrepreneurs succeeded partly through ethnic networks like TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur), which provided contacts and resources for recently arrived immigrants. Far from displacing native workers, these immigrant-founded companies created new jobs and wealth that benefited the entire economy. The impact of these global talent networks extends beyond America's borders. Immigrant entrepreneurs increasingly serve as bridges between Silicon Valley and their home countries, creating transnational business networks that benefit both economies. Taiwanese engineers in Silicon Valley helped Taiwan's computer industry secure contracts with American companies, while Indian engineers were among the first to outsource software services to India, establishing Bangalore's reputation as a technology hub. These cross-Pacific networks give skilled immigrants a competitive edge through their language skills, cultural knowledge, and international contacts. Competition for foreign university students has become equally intense, as countries recognize that today's international students are tomorrow's skilled immigrants. The US has traditionally been the destination of choice, hosting 586,000 foreign students in 2003. Britain ranked second with 255,000, followed by Germany with 241,000. Countries are increasingly allowing foreign students to stay and work after graduation, recognizing their potential contribution to the economy. This represents a significant shift from viewing education as a service export to seeing it as a pathway for talent acquisition.

Chapter 5: Diversity's Economic Dividend in Advanced Economies

The economic benefits of diversity extend far beyond filling specific job vacancies. Big global cities like London, New York, and Sydney buzz with creative energy precisely because of their cosmopolitan character. This diversity doesn't just make them culturally interesting places to live—it drives economic vibrancy and innovation. Richard Florida, a professor of public policy, argues that "Regional economic growth is powered by creative people, who prefer places that are diverse, tolerant and open to new ideas." His research across fifty US metropolitan areas shows a solid link between diversity and economic success, with the most diverse cities ranking highest as technology centers. Historically, the world's great creative cities have been highly cosmopolitan. From ancient Athens to medieval Florence, Elizabethan London to Weimar Berlin, these centers drew talent from far and wide. As Peter Hall notes in "Cities in Civilization," creative cities have always relied on "continued renewal of the creative bloodstream." Today's global cities capture this phenomenon—London's seven million residents speak over three hundred languages, while nearly half of New Yorkers speak a language other than English at home. This cultural diversity creates environments where new ideas emerge from the intersection of different perspectives and traditions. The economic value of this diversity can be measured in concrete terms. Two Italian economists, Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri, examined wages and rents in US cities with varying proportions of foreign-born residents. They found that average wages earned by US-born people and average rents were significantly higher in culturally diverse cities. Their research suggests that diversity boosts productivity—New York's diversity isn't just a consequence of higher wages but one reason why earnings are higher there. As they concluded, "a more multicultural urban environment makes US-born citizens more productive." This diversity advantage is particularly valuable in problem-solving industries that increasingly dominate advanced economies. Norman Johnson of Los Alamos National Laboratory has demonstrated through experimental research that diverse groups solve complex problems more effectively than homogeneous ones. When he tested how people navigate through a maze, combining the experiences of diverse individuals consistently outperformed individual efforts, even when some individuals performed poorly. This is especially true when problems become too complex for even experts to understand fully. In business settings, diverse teams make better decisions and have higher potential productivity. Lu Hong and Scott Page showed that employees with limited ability but different perspectives can find optimal solutions to difficult problems, often outperforming like-minded groups of high-ability problem-solvers. As Ivan Seidenberg, former CEO of Bell Atlantic, put it: "If everybody in the room is the same, you'll have a lot fewer arguments and a lot worse answers." This explains why global firms with diverse workforces thrive despite potential language barriers and cultural friction—the gains from complementary skills and perspectives outweigh the costs. While ethnic diversity may act as a drag on economic growth in poor countries with weak institutions, research by Alberto Alesina and Eliana La Ferrara found it beneficial at higher levels of development. Advanced economies are better equipped to reap the productivity benefits of workers with complementary skills and different insights, while having robust institutions that can manage potential conflicts. As G. Pascal Zachary argues in "The Diversity Advantage," creativity—the most valued currency in today's economy—flourishes when people from different backgrounds come together, bringing divergent thinking and a tolerance for ambiguity that fuels innovation.

Chapter 6: Cultural Integration: Challenges and Successful Models

Immigration inevitably brings different cultures into contact, creating both enrichment and friction. While most people appreciate some cultural benefits of immigration—whether it's London's Brick Lane curry houses or Gloria Estefan's music—many also worry about the challenges of integrating newcomers with different languages, religions, and social norms. How can people of diverse backgrounds learn to get along, and to what extent should immigrants adapt to society versus society adapting to them? The experiences of different countries offer valuable insights into successful and unsuccessful approaches to cultural integration. Europe's experience with post-war immigration has often been traumatic because immigrants with little knowledge of their new homes were thrown into countries that did not consider themselves places of immigration. Germany saw its Turkish immigrants as temporary guest-workers and treated them as foreigners separate from society, with fewer social rights. Even their German-born children had little chance of becoming citizens. Unsurprisingly, Germany's Turks have tended to live in separate communities, reading Turkish-language newspapers and watching their own satellite TV programs. This approach created parallel societies rather than integrated communities. France has pursued a very different approach, asserting that anyone who speaks French, adopts French culture, and shares republican values can become French. Immigrants can easily become citizens with full rights, but they must "assimilate" to French ways, jettisoning their own cultural heritage. The French state does not recognize ethnic or cultural differences among its citizens—they are all just French. But as the riots in 2005 highlighted, many non-whites, despite being French citizens, continue to face discrimination and feel excluded from society. The French model of assimilation has struggled to deliver on its promise of equality. The United States has traditionally taken a third way—the "melting pot" approach—where immigrants pledge allegiance to America and its constitutional values but don't have to adopt any particular cultural habits. Over time, each influx of immigrants changes and enriches American culture while adapting freely to American ways. Irish-Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day; Mexican-Americans have a fiesta on May 5; Korean-Americans watch Korean-language TV. This approach has worked remarkably well, though America's affirmative-action laws have contributed to an increasingly fractious assertion of group rights in recent decades. Multiculturalism—a "live-and-let-live" approach recognizing that society is culturally diverse—has been embraced in various forms by countries like Australia, Canada, Britain, and the Netherlands. But except perhaps in Canada, governments are questioning how much diversity a society can embrace. The Netherlands, once a bastion of tolerance, underwent a sea change after the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in 2004 by a Dutch-born Muslim extremist. As Chris Huinder of the Institute for Multicultural Development explains, "The right and center say immigrants have to assimilate, they have to accept our ways. Dutch culture must be the leading culture and immigrants have to discard their backward ways." Canada has gone furthest in embracing multiculturalism while successfully integrating immigrants. Toronto—motto: "Diversity Our Strength"—is extremely multicultural, with nearly half its 2.5 million residents born outside Canada. Yet visitors expecting ethnic conflict will be disappointed. It is sedate rather than edgy, integrated not segregated, peaceful and prosperous. Deprived ethnic ghettos like those in American inner cities or Parisian suburbs are virtually non-existent. "Canadians are comfortable with diversity. They have come to terms with it. There is an intolerance of segregation and closed doors," explains Jehad Aliweiwi, director of the Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office. For successful integration, societies need to make everyone feel included while accepting diversity, insisting only that all adhere to fundamental principles like constitutional democracy, rule of law, and tolerance. Learning the local language and understanding local institutions are important, without imposing uniform culture or behavioral norms. As John Stuart Mill wrote, "It is hardly possible to overrate the value, for the improvement of human beings, of things which bring them into contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar."

Chapter 7: Beyond Fear: Toward a Rational Migration Policy

Migration represents one of humanity's oldest strategies for improving life circumstances. Throughout history, people have moved in search of safety, opportunity, and a better future for their children. Today's migration patterns, while often portrayed as unprecedented crises, are part of this continuing human story—albeit shaped by modern forces of globalization, demographic change, and economic inequality. Moving beyond fear-based responses toward evidence-based policies requires acknowledging both migration's benefits and its legitimate challenges. The evidence presented throughout this exploration reveals that migration brings substantial benefits to receiving countries, sending countries, and migrants themselves. For rich countries facing aging populations and labor shortages, immigrants provide vital economic contributions at both ends of the skills spectrum. They fill crucial gaps in labor markets, enhance innovation through diversity, and generally pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits. For sending countries, remittances from migrants working abroad—estimated at $480 billion annually—dwarf official development aid and provide direct support to families in need. And for migrants themselves, moving to countries where their labor is more valued can multiply their earnings many times over. Yet migration also creates genuine challenges that cannot be dismissed. Cultural integration requires effort from both newcomers and host societies. Labor market disruptions, while generally minimal and temporary, can affect specific sectors or regions more severely. And the political backlash against immigration often reflects legitimate concerns about identity and social cohesion that deserve thoughtful engagement rather than dismissal. A rational migration policy must address these concerns while harnessing migration's potential benefits. The current system, which combines restrictive policies with ineffective enforcement, satisfies no one. It causes unnecessary suffering at borders, creates underground economies that undermine labor standards, and fails to harness migration's potential benefits. A better approach would regulate migration rather than futilely attempting to prevent it, creating a system that works with human aspirations rather than against them. This might include expanded temporary worker programs that allow circular migration, pathways to legal status for undocumented workers already contributing to society, and stronger integration policies that help newcomers become full participants in their new communities. Canada's approach offers valuable lessons. Its points-based system for skilled workers, seasonal agricultural worker program, and multicultural integration policies have created one of the world's most successful immigration systems. Toronto—where nearly half the population is foreign-born—demonstrates that diversity and social cohesion can coexist when supported by appropriate policies. The Canadian experience shows that countries can maintain public support for immigration by ensuring it serves national interests while treating migrants with dignity and respect. As aging societies face growing labor shortages and developing countries produce more educated workers than their economies can absorb, migration pressures will only increase. The question is not whether migration will continue, but how we choose to manage it. By moving beyond fear-based policies toward evidence-based approaches that maximize benefits while addressing legitimate concerns, we can transform migration from a perceived threat into an opportunity for shared prosperity. This requires political courage and honest dialogue, but the potential rewards—for migrants, sending countries, and receiving societies alike—make this one of the most important policy challenges of our time.

Summary

Migration represents one of humanity's most profound paradoxes. While we celebrate the free movement of goods, capital, and information as essential to global prosperity, we increasingly restrict the movement of people. This contradiction has created a system that causes unnecessary suffering, undermines economic potential, and fails to address legitimate concerns about integration and social cohesion. The evidence examined throughout this exploration reveals that migration brings substantial benefits—filling labor market gaps in aging societies, driving innovation through diversity, providing vital remittances to developing countries, and offering opportunities for migrants themselves. Yet these benefits can only be fully realized through policies that regulate migration effectively rather than futilely attempting to prevent it. Moving forward requires abandoning simplistic narratives about migration and embracing its complex realities. First, we must recognize that migration responds primarily to economic incentives and demographic patterns that border enforcement alone cannot overcome. Second, we should acknowledge that successful integration requires both newcomers' willingness to adapt and host societies' openness to diversity. Third, we must design migration systems that serve national interests while respecting migrants' dignity and human rights. Countries like Canada demonstrate that with the right policies, immigration can strengthen rather than weaken social cohesion. By replacing fear with evidence, we can transform migration from a divisive political issue into an opportunity for shared prosperity—creating societies that harness human mobility's benefits while addressing its legitimate challenges.

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Philippe Legrain

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