How Immigration Really Works: A Factual Guide to the Most Divisive Issue in Politics
Hein de Haas
Penguin Random House2024
~ inside How migration actually worksProfessor Hein de Haas ambitiously proposes a new paradigm, a new discourse, and a holistic vision of migration that bridges the gap between the popular discourse embraced by politicians, journalists, and humanitarian organizations and scientific knowledge. He demonstrates that an informed public debate on migration is not only possible but essential, because the old strategy of waging war on migration has long obscured political, economic, and social responsibility. This has often led to major geopolitical shifts. Migration policy has indeed played a central role in Brexit, the European and US elections, and has justified the surge in budgets for border militarization. These are just a few examples.
Drawing on strong research in history, economics, anthropology, sociology, geography, and demography, this book dismantles false or partial assumptions about migration—its causes, nature, and consequences. But it avoids the trap of a single worldview and acknowledges that there are no easy solutions to complex social problems like migration. Evidence, facts, and information never speak for themselves, and this “guide” proposes to translate this knowledge, drawing on decades of scholarly research, into an accessible and engaging format that can more easily penetrate the boundaries of the social sciences into public debate and policymaking.
This three-part book provides a comprehensive analysis of global migration patterns, examines the impact on host and origin societies, and explores the role of propaganda in distorting migration issues. By debunking 22 myths, de Haas addresses topics such as social cohesion, crime, labor, and climate change, moving beyond the simplistic view of migration as either a threat or a solution. Below, I revisit four of the most persistent and influential myths in public discourse, offering valuable insights for reframing the debate on migration in a variety of areas.
There is no migration of unprecedented and astonishing levels.
The notion that migration has reached unprecedented levels, as governments and international organizations often claim, is dismantled from the first page. As de Haas shows, international migration has remained relatively low and stable over the past several decades, consistently accounting for about 3% of the world’s population. This is far from an invasion. Despite global problems such as disasters, inequality, and injustice, four-fifths of the world’s population still live in their home countries. Moreover, most migrants move legally and actively seek out their destination communities, primarily for work purposes.
In contrast, unsolicited border arrivals, including asylum seekers and those with no other viable option than to travel irregularly, are not increasing and still represent only a small fraction of migrants. De Haas suggests that politicians who claim that their countries cannot bear the weight of the world’s suffering can step back. If there is a refugee crisis, it is concentrated in the regions of origin. In the countries of the Global North, the pattern is irregular, and the most serious crisis is the failure to recognize the political dimension of asylum.
Labor shortages, not development issues, are the main factor driving migration
Another persistent myth is that investing in economic development in the country of origin will reduce migration. As de Haas points out, decades of research have shown that the relationship between migration and development follows a U-shaped curve: as economic conditions improve, migration increases, and as development levels increase, migration decreases. As de Haas argues, migration is a necessary, inseparable, and inevitable component of development. While investing in development in the country of origin may not reduce migration in the short term, labor demand remains a major driver of international migration.
In fact, migrants mainly fill vacancies due to labor shortages and have a minimal impact on the welfare state and the working and living conditions of the population. As de Haas effectively points out, the government, not the migrants, should be responsible for such conditions. This highlights the way in which public discourse on migration often exaggerates minor effects as transformative, confuses cause and effect, and confuses correlation and causation, ultimately leading to a false paradigm.
Smuggling is not a cause of illegal migration, but a response to border controls.
Smuggling is not the root cause of illegal migration. Rather, illegal migration is a direct response to strict border control enforcement that forces people to rely on intermediaries such as smugglers. This misunderstanding of causality has led to the popular but misguided ‘war on smuggling’, a classic example of ineffective policies that are complicit in the problem that politicians are trying to solve. Contrary to popular belief, smugglers rarely operate within organized crime networks. They typically operate independently on a regional scale and do not constitute an ‘immigrant industry’ that can be dismantled to curb migration.
The real industries that benefit from border control are border surveillance, including arms and technology companies. The author shows how border restrictions generally increase illegal migration and smuggling, creating a vicious cycle that systematically undermines the goals of border control (p. 259). The expected enforcement of stricter border controls actually causes preemptive migration, deters return and circular movement, and converts temporary migration into permanent settlement. More difficult borders do not deter people; they only make migration more dangerous and deadly.
Migration is not a panacea for global inequality, but rather part of the problem.
The myth persists even on the pro-immigration side of the debate. The idea that migration alone can solve global inequality or address structural demographic trends such as population aging is misleading and unrealistic. Despite increased migration, inequality persists and migration has had a small effect on fertility. Moreover, the idea that borders are stronger than ever is inaccurate. Legal barriers to migration have generally been relaxed, but the pace of liberalization has slowed considerably since the 1990s. At the same time, migrants today enjoy more rights than ever before.
This situation often creates a paradox that paralyzes modern liberal democracy, commonly referred to as the migration triad. The conflicting imperatives of controlling immigration, promoting economic interests, and defending human rights cannot be achieved simultaneously. An increasingly common response to this triad is to prevent “unsolicited arrivals,” filter mobility, and exclude potential asylum seekers and other migrants who deserve protection. To achieve this, destination countries engage in massive externalization policies, involving origin and transit countries in border enforcement and migration containment efforts. As a result, borders have become increasingly violent and horrific for those excluded from legal channels.
Closing remarks
~ inside How Migration Actually WorksUsing robust scientific evidence, maps, charts, and data, de Haas dismantles entrenched myths about migration that are deeply ingrained in public discourse. Each myth is carefully analyzed, providing readers with a solid foundation to challenge preconceptions and encourage reflection beyond the book itself. One important, somewhat underappreciated aspect, however, is the critique of the widespread assumption that the violence and harsh realities of border practices (especially for those who lack access to internationally recognized means of travel) are somehow inevitable. This belief, intertwined with the securitization and militarization of borders along major migration routes, fosters the false perception that there are no viable alternatives to current approaches to human movement. This solutionist perspective contributes to the persistent failure of policy path dependency.
Further exploration of these dynamics can illuminate the ways in which migration as a complex social phenomenon is deeply intertwined with power relations and historical struggles rooted in colonialism, gender, class, and race. These factors are often implicit but deeply embedded in migration discourse and policy. These fundamental issues that cut across the discussed myths have profound implications that cannot be fully understood through a purely positivist lens. To overlook them risks erasing local and individual stories that reflect systemic trends.
If How Migration Actually Works Just as it demonstrates how essential it is to build a platform for discussion that is not polarized, it is equally urgent to step outside the beaten path, expand the space of possibility, and consider a radically different approach to migration. As de Haas explains, such an approach requires understanding migration in its historical context, recognizing it as a normal aspect of life, and viewing it through the lens of mobility justice rather than simply an economic issue. Only then can we begin to reconceptualize policies around migration, and thus move to the question, “What should we do?” We need to understand how migration actually works, so that we can define the direction we want society to take, and appropriately assign responsibility for that direction.
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