Immigration and Welfare States

We come from the land
Of the ice and snow
From the midnight sun
Where the hot springs blow
--Led Zeppelin

In the wake of President Trump's rescinding of his predecessor's executive order aimed at keeping illegal immigrants in country, I am reminded of a principle attributed to several people. It says that you can't have open borders and a welfare state at the same time.

In unhampered markets, people are free to cross borders in search of opportunity. Those opportunities involve those related to production and trade. Those countries that offer the best opportunities attract the most productive people. Open border policies, then, create competition among various free states for productive people with capacity to increase standard of living for all.

If a welfare state is available, then some people cross borders into that country in search of a free ride. Rather than attracting producers, welfare states are magnets for those who would rather live on the backs of others. Consequently, standard of living is restrained as productive people are forced to work for others as well as for themselves. In addition, conditions of moral hazard encourage loafing over work.

It follows that, in a society of welfare states, unrestricted travel and immigration will face considerable resistance--much of it justified. Though counterintuitive to some freedom lovers, open borders in welfare states can compromise, rather than preserve, liberty.