Liberal Immigration Research Paper

These immigrants of the early twentieth century made the United States the country it is today through their hard work. Conveniently, this era of immigration coincides with the economic boom of the twentieth century. “The economic supremacy of the United States was attained during the very period when large numbers of immigrants were coming into the country.”14 Not only did these immigrants transform America’s industry, therefore contributing greatly to the country’s successful economy, but they transformed America’s culture as well. This was the age when America truly became the melting pot it is known as today, and when most of America’s fully integrated Italian, Polish, and Russian-American’s ancestors arrived to cement their place in American
society. These immigrants’ hard work and sacrifice made the United States the super power it is today. In the past sixty years, European society too has been prosperous under liberal immigration policy.
First with the guestworker policies that were implemented directly after World War II, and then with the terms of the Schengen Agreement from 1990 onwards. Besides for the common economic depressions, and the severe wealth gap we are seeing in the world today, Europe has seen economic growth during this period of liberal immigration policy. Not only have these immigrants contributed to Europe’s economic expansion, but also they have contributed to Europe’s own transformation into a melting pot of culture. Much like the United Provinces of old, Europe is a global trade center, where there is an abundance of goods and services from around the world. Europe’s liberal immigration policy began with the guestworker policies of the postwar period. Guestworker policies were a part of the effort to rebuild Europe after the devastation caused by World War II, but only as that.
The major legacy of the interwar years for the question of migration was a generalized fear of return to the massive unemployment of the Great Depression. This fear was one of the major reasons why alien workers could be conceived of only as a temporary compliment to the indigenous work
force.15

Guest workers were supposed to be guests, used for a time and then sent back to their home country, but many of these workers stayed and integrated into European society. These workers had earned their place in Western Europe, and evidence of their dedication is laid out here:
Foreign workers constituted a significant proportion of the total workforce in France, Germany, and Switzerland in 1976—ranging from 10 to 20 percent…data also shows that guestworkers there had considerably higher labor-force participation rates than natives.16

These immigrants were instrumental in rebuilding Europe, essentially having a part in saving it from the destruction of World War II and re-establishing it as a first world society. Not only did they help in rebuilding Europe, these immigrants (most notably the Moroccans, Turks, Algerians, and Tunisians17) helped reshape the European image and culture. Today, Indian curry food is an essential British cuisine, the French have a strong taste for North African coffee, and the populations of Western European countries today(most notably the United Kingdom and France) have multiple ethnic minority groups.
Although the guestworker policies of Western Europe ended after 197418, open-door immigration was reincarnated in the European Union Schengen Agreement of 1990:
Supplemented by the 1990 Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement, the compact promised a new era of cooperation among European states in a variety of policy areas, most notably in regional border control…Today, more than 400 million citizens residing in the 26 member nations of the Schengen Agreement can visit, work and live in any other member state without restriction.19

Although the Schengen Agreement has not had a significant cultural impact, since most European cultures have been very deeply intertwined for millennia, the economic advantages to this geographically small-scale policy are blatantly clear. With trade:
A 1 per cent increase in immigration between two countries increases their bilateral trade by 0.10 per cent. Moreover, when two countries are members of Schengen, the net trade between [countries] is on average 0.09 per cent higher per year. Such a figure has large economic significance…a 0.09 per cent increase in this figure would equate to almost $208 million worth of additional trade…every year.20

And in other sectors of the economy, the numbers show significant data that immigration increases imports and exports:
Specifically, a 1 per cent jump in immigration is linked to a 0.09 per cent increase in imports. This aligns with our hypothesis that countries that promote greater exchanges of people also reap gains from imports… According to the full regression…when both countries in a dyad are signatories to Schengen, exports rise by an average of 0.14 per cent. Furthermore, a 1 per cent rise in immigration is associated with a 0.11 per cent increase in exports… A 0.11 per cent growth in this amount would expand French exports by about $48 million annually.21

In conclusion, Schengen is the most important example of the positive impact of immigrants on modern societies because it still continues to aid Europe in times of economic insecurity. Even the United Kingdom has asked for terms of the Schengen Agreement to be upheld during their exit from the European Union. Perhaps if ethnic identity were stripped away from other immigration policies, the positive economic effects of such immigration policies would overrule any xenophobic arguments. Unfortunately, xenophobia creates more popular opinion on immigration than well-documented evidence. However, xenophobia, like most phobias, has a legitimate cause. In an article entitled, “Is Altruism Innate,” author J. Philippe Rushton gives insight to both the complexity of altruism and the inherent prejudice human beings are capable of:
The answer to the question posed in my title is yes.
Altruism is found in many animal species, and the origin lies deep in evolutionary history… In nonhuman animals, altruism includes parental care, warning calls, cooperative defense, rescue behavior, and food sharing; it may also involve self-sacrifice…[honeybee] barbs have been described as instruments of altruistic self-sacrifice. Although the individual dies, the bee’s genes, shared in the colony of relatives, survive. Human altruism also originates in, and helps serve, genetic purpose.22

Therefore, to understand xenophobia, one must consider this psychological evidence. Human altruism is not simply empathy or assisting someone in need, but it is a tool we subconsciously use to further our survival. Perhaps that is why we naturally get a good feeling out of helping someone in need. Xenophobic people see their own actions as being altruistic, as preserving their own genes against outside threats. “Selective responding may be highly individualized. By being most altruistic to those who resemble us…we help copies of our own genes to replicate. This makes ‘altruism’ ultimately ‘selfish’ in
purpose.”23