Open Borders

immigrationsovereigntyglobaleconomicshuman-rights

Get to the Point

National borders should be open to all people, regardless of origin.

Support Open Borders

International norms affirm freedom of movement and the right to leave any country and return to one’s own; advocates argue extending this principle across borders reduces discrimination based on birthplace.
UN — Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 13)
Economic models estimate that removing migration barriers would yield very large global output gains, far exceeding those from further liberalizing trade or capital flows.
AEA — Clemens (2011) “Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk?”
Migrants help fill labor shortages, expand the working-age population, and contribute to innovation and growth in advanced economies.
OECD — Is migration good for the economy? (Policy Debates No. 2)

Maintain Border Controls

States claim a right to regulate entry to protect security, uphold the rule of law, and manage finite public resources for residents.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Immigration
Rapid, large-scale inflows can strain local capacity—especially housing—when infrastructure and services are unprepared.
Migration Policy Institute — Housing pressures & immigrant integration
Open borders could exacerbate ‘brain drain’ from lower-income countries; research reviews highlight risks alongside possible gains from circulation.
World Bank (WDR 2023) — Module 9: Brain Drain

Summary

Advocates frame free movement as a human-rights extension that would unlock large global GDP gains and address labor needs in aging, high-income societies. Opponents argue that states must regulate entry to safeguard security and capacity, warning that unmanaged inflows can strain infrastructure and that open borders may intensify high-skill emigration from poorer countries. The debate trades global equity and efficiency against national sovereignty and absorptive capacity.

Historical Context

While the UDHR affirms freedom of movement and the right to leave any country, cross-border entry remains controlled by national law. Open-borders proposals draw on moral philosophy and economic modeling suggesting large efficiency gains, while policy discussions emphasize state prerogatives, integration capacity, and distributional impacts across sending and receiving countries.

Open Borders

Get to the Point

Support Open Borders

Maintain Border Controls

Summary

Historical Context

Sources