The Case for Open Borders

by John Washington

Studies show that migrants moving from Mexico to the United States increase their wages by a factor of two to six, while migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to Europe increase their wages by even more. Someone from Yemen moving to the United States would increase their wages for doing nearly identical work by a factor of fourteen. From Haiti, it would be a factor of more than twenty-three. If you could double, triple, quadruple, or quattuordecimuple your wages for comparable work, would you move? Besides the clear wage benefits—significantly more money for similar work—migrants typically move to places with better labor rights, more worker protections, better infrastructure, and more freedom, security, and opportunity. Moving somewhere where you can earn more and better protect your earnings is part of what is referred to as a “place premium”: according to the Center for Global Development, in societies with greater resources and better political and economic institutions, workers can be as much as several times more productive. One of the clear takeaways is that labor mobility, more than almost any other policy or fiscal intervention, is the best way to reduce household poverty in many countries around the world.

Good. Migration helps immigrants. Who would have thought?