Yes, and you still had to present yourself at the border, with a passport, and be registered. Controlling immigration doesn't mean preventing people to get in,

Yes, and you still had to present yourself at the border, with a passport, and be registered. Controlling immigration doesn't mean preventing people to get in, it means knowing who is coming in, and how many people, at which rate, so you can take decisions. Besides, while it is a country strength, it did and still do have a cost. Whether this cost is worth the benefit is something you can only answer if you have metrics to do so, and illegal immigration make it hard to have those metrics, or change your policy to adapt to your new situation. People always see immigrations as being a moral issue first, but it really is not. It has strong moral implications by nature, but it's first a management issue. Just like eduction, science, etc.