Eugene Volokh puts it nicely, for someone who is generally in favor of open borders. If a recent poll is to be believed, there are about 800 million Indians who would like to immigrate to America. Those who are unconcerned about the number of immigrants we presently have should stop and think about that number for a few minutes, and what it means for the future of an open borders America. 800,000,000.
India is, of course, one of the better places from which to get immigrants. They’re more liberal than much of the world, more educated, and some of them speak English. There are about 40 million Indonesians who would like to immigrate to America (equivalent to the combined populations of California and Oregon), and they are largely Muslim and illiberal. There was no polling done for Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Ethiopia, four countries that combine for half a billion people (500,000,000) with a per capita GDP of $1,500. How many of them do you think would like to come? There should be no need to mention China.
Poor, illiterate, illiberal foreigners who would like to move to our country greatly outnumber us. Every discussion of immigration should always begin with that statement.
Posted by Apollo in The Melting Pot Boils Over, Those Wacky Foreigners