The Overlooked Costs of Immigration
A conversation with Alejandro Portes, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Migration and Development at Princeton University Q: Many economists argue that migration is good for sending countries because migrants send back resources (“remittances”) and may later return with new skills and knowledge, stimulating development. You claim such rosy predictions are exaggerated. Why? A: The key consideration of whether migration leads to development and new productive activities is whether that migration is cyclical or not. When young adults travel abroad for temporary periods and return home after accumulating enough savings, direct and indirect…
Read MoreThe U.S. Immigration "Problem": Facts and Fictions
International migration is one of the most misunderstood issues of our time. Most of what is accepted as true and self-evident by the public and the press is patently wrong and as a result policies implemented to control immigration, especially from Mexico, have not only failed but have backfired at great cost to citizens of the United States and the migrants themselves. Q: Can the United States really open the Mexico-U.S. border to the free movement of all factors of production while preventing the entry of workers? In other words, is it realistic to integrate…
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