A review by heatherbermingham
Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan

4.25

If you're looking for something that kind of covers all the bases as far as arguments for and against immigration, this is it. Caplan is very upfront about the fact that he believes in open borders - real open borders, not the kind we allegedly have now where people get stopped all the time - and he tackles all the major arguments against more immigration: They're stealing our jobs! They're a drain on taxpayers! They're destroying our culture by refusing to assimilate! They're criminals! I found a couple of his arguments a little less compelling - he tries to cover a *lot* of ground and I think that hurts him in a couple of places - but he uses tons of data, graphics, references etc. and there are SO MANY references in the back to dig into. In my favorite chapter, he argues that if all the anti-immigration arguments were true, there are still a lot of things we could do that aren't just shutting the door on everyone and then offers real, honest to god policy suggestions. I've been reading a lot about the border recently, both fiction and nonfiction, and this was probably the nail in the coffin for me. I don't think there's a good reason - ethical, moral, or economic - for super closed borders.