Free Immigration and Welfare State
Donald Trumps controversial policies have sparked an immigration debate like no other. However, it would wrong to say that this is a recent development. This is because America has always had a segment of people who believe that immigration is harming the nation.
There has always been a lobby working to stop immigration right from the time of Milton Friedman i.e. the 1980s. He once addressed the topic in a conference and made the famous remark that You cant have open borders in a welfare state!. In this article, we will have a closer look at the meaning of that remark.
The Case against Free Immigration in a Welfare State
The Case for Free Immigration in a Welfare State
Although the Milton Friedman argument is quite logical, many believe that free immigration must not necessarily be stopped because of the welfare state provision. That argument is as follows:
To sum it up, open borders and welfare state are inherently opposite constructs. It is not possible to have the two in conjunction without making special arrangements. The United States government will have to put in place laws that would prevent it from being ripped off by freeloaders in the name of free immigration.
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