Philippe Legrain

Great piece by Edward Luce in the FT on Obama’s efforts to revive immigration reform. On grounds of enlightened self-interest, Mr Obama should therefore be commended. The opposite could be said of an increasingly nativist Republican party. Having applauded their colleagues in Arizona, who in April enacted the most draconian anti-immigrant state law in a [...]

Max Dunbar reviews Aftershock in 3:AM magazine In his essential book Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, the economist Philippe Legrain demolished the case against migration in both its economic and what he kindly terms its ‘cultural’ form. In that book he also made the argument for freedom of movement of labour to match the freedom of movement of [...]

I debated the issue with Douglas Murray on the Politics UK programme on the BBC World Service. The interviewer was Edward Stourton. Listen here.

This article first appeared on the Guardian‘s Comment is Free. To anyone concerned that immigration is out of control, a promise to capthe number of people entering Britain seems very appealing. That’s why the Conservatives made the pledge during the election campaign. Such is the anti-immigrant fervour among the Tory grassroots that David Cameron didn’t dare [...]

The Guardian, 28 June 2010. The government’s arbitrary limit will deprive the economy of skilled workers it needs but barely dent overall migrant numbers

Forbes, 28 June 2010. Opening America’s borders is morally right, economically beneficial–and would even make America safer.

The case for open borders, the cover article in the new Forbes magazine.

In his column in The Times today, David Aaronovitch uses Aftershock to buttress his arguments: Legrain is looking at how to fashion policy after the crisis. And he reminds his readers that Britain exists in a world of constant change, one that demands that we keep up. For example, we speak all the time about [...]

Great piece of photo journalism by Dulce Pinzón on ForeignPolicy.com

I debated this issue with Andrew Green of MigrationWatch on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast at 7am this morning. The interviewer is Nicky Campbell. Listen to it here

Fascinating piece in the New York Times

Nick Griffin of the British National Party: It’s not about race. Britain is full up. Andrew Green of Migration Watch: It’s about numbers and space, not about race. From the New York Times

I was interviewed bright and early on BBC Radio London’s Breakfast Show with Gaby Roslin and Paul Ross this morning about immigration and the election campaign. Listen to it here

I participated in a roundtable debate on this issue on Next Left’s website. Read the contributions here.

I debate with Andrew Green of MigrationWatch on BBC Radio 4′s PM programme, yesterday, 29 April 2010. Bizarrely, Green lambasts the BBC for failing to give him airtime and then claims that his extremist anti-immigration group speaks for the majority of the British people. Listen to the clip here.

Once-poor countries such as Greece and Ireland were long countries of emigration. Then came the long economic boom, and they became countries of immigration – spectacularly so in Ireland’s case. But now boom has turned to bust, and people are increasingly emigrating again, as a recent BBC documentary highlighted. As Emmet Oliver pointed out in [...]

Calls to boycott Arizona over its outrageous new immigration are mounting, the New York Times reports. The Guardian reports that: Among those calling for a sweeping boycott was the San Francisco city attorney, Dennis Herrera, who urged city departments to look at contracts with Arizona that could be terminated. Herrera said: “Arizona has charted an [...]

Paul Krugman claims that liberals are divided on migration because: Democrats are torn individually (a state I share). On one side, they favor helping those in need, which inclines them to look sympathetically on immigrants; plus they’re relatively open to a multicultural, multiracial society. I know that when I look at today’s Mexicans and Central Americans, [...]

The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against [...]

Though ironically they copied the image from Italy’s Northern League. Hat tip: The Straight Choice