> What's the benefit to a country to basically throw its borders wide open? More people means a bigger economy. Immigrants -- at least the ones that choose to

> What's the benefit to a country to basically throw its borders wide open? More people means a bigger economy. Immigrants -- at least the ones that choose to immigrate -- are by definition risk-takers. Risk-taking is core to entrepreneurship. I hope I don't have to defend the value of entrepreneurship on this site. We've known for thousands of years that free trade is a net positive for everyone involved. Why would free immigration be any different? The US had open borders for centuries. It became the most powerful country in the world because of open borders. Here's an economist far more literate than me making the case: http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number-of-immigrants.html http://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-optimal-number... (We should also welcome all the refugees we can get, of course.)