Immigrants

by Legrain, Philippe

• ISBN13: 9780691134314
• ISBN10: 0691134316
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-06-25
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Immigration divides our globalizing world like no other issue. We are swamped by illegal immigrants and infiltrated by terrorists, our jobs stolen, our welfare system abused, our way of life destroyed--or so we are told. At a time when National Guard units are deployed alongside vigilante Minutemen on the U.S.-Mexico border, where the death toll in the past decade now exceeds 9/11's, Philippe Legrain has written the first book about immigration that looks beyond the headlines. Why are ever-rising numbers of people from poor countries arriving in the United States, Europe, and Australia? Can we keep them out? Should we even be trying? Combining compelling firsthand reporting from around the world, incisive socioeconomic analysis, and a broad understanding of whatA?s at stake politically and culturally,Immigrantsis a passionate but lucid book. In our open world, more people will inevitably move across borders, Legrain says--and we should generally welcome them. They do the jobs we canA?t or wonA?t do--and their diversity enriches us all. Left and Right, free marketeers and campaigners for global justice, enlightened patriots--all should rally behind the cause of freer migration, because They need Us and We need Them.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgements	p. xv
Introduction: Migration Isn't Just For The Birds	p. 1
It's time for fresh thinking about immigration
War On Our Borders	p. 23
The hidden costs of immigration controls
Border Crossing	p. 44
How migrants got to where they are now
Why We Need The Huddled Masses	p. 61
The case for low-skilled migration
The Global Talent Contest	p. 89
The pros and cons of high-skilled migration
Cosmopolitan And Rich	p. 117
The economic benefits of diversity
Stealing Our Jobs?	p. 133
Do immigrants displace local workers?
Snouts In Our Trough?	p. 144
Are immigrants a burden on the welfare state?
Our Heroes'	p. 161
How migration helps poor countries
Brain Drain Or Brain Gain?	p. 179
The costs and benefits of skilled emigration
It Needn't Be Forever	p. 198
The case for temporary migration
Alien Nation?	p. 207
Does immigration threaten national identity?
Huntington And Hispanics	p. 226
Is Latino immigration splitting America in two?
Stranger, Can You Spare A Dime?	p. 245
Does immigration threaten social solidarity?
Learning To Live Together	p. 258
How to integrate immigrants into society
Illiberal Islam?	p. 289
Do Muslim immigrants threaten our security and our way of life?
Open Borders	p. 318
Let them in Notes	p. 334
Index	p. 360
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