The article is now up on SSRN. It explains how migration restrictions have massive negative effects on both "negative" and "positive" economic liberty of residents of destination countries.
A compendium of some of my previous writings on these topics, which I hope remain relevant today.
Hey, we're still mad about those things today!
The ruling likely allows end of a cruel policy - but also reinforces broad presidential control over immigration.
The men, women, and children found dead in a tractor-trailer this week were just the latest casualties of an immigration approach that encourages dangerous journeys.
Chief Justice Roberts final opinion of the term rejects the statutory challenge to the Biden Administration's rescission of the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
Scrapping the policy is an important step in restoring a fair asylum-seeking process.
The tragic recent deaths of some 50 migrants in Texas highlights the dangers they face. But those dangers are the products of laws making legal immigration difficult or impossible for most who want to do it.
Plus: A New Hampshire distiller fights invasive species by turning them into whiskey, a New York City law letting non-citizens vote is overturned, and more...
Texas taxpayers might be stuck footing the hefty bill for Abbott's busing scheme.
A new directive could impose a hefty financial burden on state taxpayers and reduce community trust toward police.
A federal badge will now serve as an impenetrable shield against civil liability.
The narrow definition allows governments to expel numerous migrants fleeing violence, terrorism, forced labor, and other severe oppression.
Nicaraguan government operatives threatened Mario Rajib Flores Molina with torture and imprisonment. A new court ruling has revived his pursuit of asylum in the United States.
Taking this step is both a moral imperative, and the right way to advance US economic and strategic interests.
A compendium of my writings defending the morality and legality of this program - but also warning that it remains imperiled unless and until Congress passes a law institutionalizing it.
The Supreme Court has decided not to decide an important question relating to flips in federal policy when Administrations turn over.
Biden's decision to exclude nondemocratic countries led to a boycott by allies.
Their deaths are the tragic, predictable consequence of shutting down safer migration paths.
President Nayib Bukele is using brutal tools to solve a problem driven partly by U.S. immigration policy.
In just over a month, the Uniting for Ukraine private sponsorship program has attracted huge support.
June 6 is not only the anniversary of D-Day, but also of the Somin family's arrival in America, back in 1979. This post reprints my reflections on that milestone, which I hope remain relevant today.
Republicans have thrived since Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to 2.7 million mostly Mexican illegal immigrants in 1986.
Critics allege, with some justice, that the Biden Administration is treating the former more favorably than the latter. If so, the right solution is to increase openness to Afghans and others fleeing war and repression, not bar more Ukrainians.
Plus: Book bans come for Barnes & Noble, a blow to SEC enforcement power, and more...
Human smugglers at Mexican border won’t be sought after if migrants can come to the U.S. legally.
The racist Buffalo mass murderer's ideology drew on dangerous ideas common on both the ethnonationalist right and the far left.
Deportation proceedings are a second layer of prosecution for people who have either served their sentences or had their convictions overturned.
Plus: The editors each point out one key disagreement they have with one another.
If you put infants in federal custody, you're obliged to feed them.
ICE has spent $2.8 billion since 2008 developing surveillance and facial-recognition capabilities, mostly in secrecy and without real oversight.
Despite a promising April jobs report, the U.S. is still 3 million workers short.
Nearly 4 million people fled Ukraine in the first month after the February 24 invasion, and thousands have left each day since.
The libertarianish Colorado Democrat is devolving decision-making to parents and trying to lower the income tax to zero.
There's no reason to have one set of rules for airline passengers and another for people who cross the border in a bus, train, or car.
The new policies include private refugee sponsorship for Ukrainians, and a possible plan to facilitate visas for Russians with high-tech skills. But much more remains to be done.
Though the program has flaws, it’s an innovative way for private citizens to get directly involved in resettlement efforts for fleeing Ukrainians.
"It's abundantly clear [Trump] has no regard for the suffering of the Venezuelan people," Biden said in October 2020 before engaging in many of the same practices toward asylum seekers.
Critics are right to point out that some Western nations are treating Ukrainian refugees better than those fleeing similar horrific situations elsewhere. But the right way to address the problem is to increase openness to other refugees, not exclude Ukrainians.
In a forceful concurring opinion, he argues the Supreme Court should overrule longstanding precedents denying many constitutional rights to residents of Puerto Rico and other "unincorporated" US territories. Gorsuch is absolutely right. But he would do well to cast the same critical gaze on the very similar precedents that exempt immigration restrictions from normal constitutional scrutiny.
French President Emmanuel Macron is authoritarian-light. Candidate Marine Le Pen is worse.
The inspections caused great economic harm, and may also have violated the Dormant Foreign Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
The new inspection initiative duplicated screenings that were already being carried out, irking trade officials and truckers—even those who have supported Abbott up until this point.
The immigration bureaucracy is worsening one of the tightest labor markets in recent American history.
The U.S. has taken in more Ukrainians through other migration pathways, but the low refugee tally shows how ill-prepared the U.S. refugee resettlement program was to help Ukrainians.
Graduates of the world’s top universities will soon be eligible for a new multi-year visa in the U.K. that will help bolster the nation’s competitive edge.
Plus: China's unsustainable COVID lockdowns, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's performative anti-immigration antics snarl supply chains, and more...
Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.
This modal will close in 10
