In a blog post at Marginal Revolution, Alex Tabarrok has an interesting reminder of the virtues of open borders in Europe. Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University, which arguably is the best free-market, Austrian economics department in the country. He is also the Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center. Along with his GMU colleague Tyler Cowan, he is the co-author of Modern Principles of Economics. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and many other publications.
The Schengen Area, Tabarrok reminds us, came into existence in 1995 with ten countries. It established a system of open borders between those ten members. Citizens of those nations could freely cross borders to enter the other nine countries. No passports or visas were necessary. People could freely live, tour, and work in the other nine countries. In essence, the system was the same as it is here in the United States with respect to travel across state borders, only with Schengen we are dealing with nations rather than states within a nation.
Tabarrok reminds us that today the Schengen Area has grown to 27 countries, which means that 427 million (yes, that’s million with an “m”) people can move freely between those countries. Quoting an article in AFAR magazine, Tabarrok writes, “Each day around 3.5 million people cross internal borders for work or study or to visit families and friends, and almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen country while working in another.” No, not everyone moves to one country or another. Most people choose to reside in their own country.
Schengen Area. Licensed under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Today, this all seems perfectly normal. But it was anything but normal before the Schengen Area was established. Just like here in the United States, there were people exclaiming that open borders would be catastrophic for European countries. People exclaimed, “How will our nation survive if anyone is free to come here?” “What’s the point of having nations if we don’t have borders?” they cried. “Imagine, Italians would be free to enter France and pollute our culture and steal our jobs!”
Today, people who live in the Schengen Area absolutely love it. This is especially true with respect to young people. Everyone can freely travel into other countries and find work without having to get a “green card” or other official permission to work. And yes, France is still France even though Italians are free to travel, tour, and work in France.
That’s precisely what an open border between the United States and Mexico (and other nations) would be like. People would simply be free to cross back and forth, retaining their citizenship in the process. The United States would not fall into the ocean. The Rio Grande would not suddenly dry up. The forever crisis along the border would be gone immediately. No more chaos, death, suffering, and an immigration police state along the border. Simply people freely crossing the border in both directions in the pursuit of happiness.
Why is it so difficult for Americans to embrace the concept of open international borders even while seeing the virtues of open borders domestically and open borders in Europe? It’s because we have all been born and raised under a socialist immigration system — that is, one that is based on the socialist principle of central planning. When all you know is socialism, freedom can be a very frightening thing. Socialism provides an “aura” of “security,” while freedom connotes the unknown and unpredictable, even when one can see the virtues of freedom elsewhere.
But the fact is that America’s system of immigration controls comes with death, suffering, perpetual crisis and chaos, and a massive immigration police state. That’s a perfect sign that this is an evil, malevolent, anti-libertarian system. A good system is one that comes with life, liberty, harmony, and the pursuit of happiness. That’s why Americans should abandon immigration socialism and embrace open borders.