Free markets with illegal immigration.

I was thinking about this today. Isn't it in fact the demand for cheap labor from a free market that causes illegal immigration?

Discuss

Put it this way.After Katrina two out of every three license plates around here were on vans and trucks from Texas ;D.....filled!The work ethic in this country is not what it once was and we are somewhat reliant.An abundence of willing workers surrounded by civil war,drug cartels and 3rd world poverty only miles away.Wrong is wrong....but its human nature to do what you have too where you have too in order to survive for self and family.

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Originally Posted by Spicoli

Put it this way.After Katrina two out of every three license plates around here were on vans and trucks from Texas ;D.....filled!The work ethic in this country is not what it once was and we are somewhat reliant.An abundence of willing workers surrounded by civil war,drug cartels and 3rd world poverty only miles away.Wrong is wrong....but its human nature to do what you have too where you have too in order to survive for self and family.

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This.

If you have free markets you also need a free labour market, free movement of labour obviously being part of that. So on a puely economic level units of labour (people) should be free to cross borders to take up work that exists in other countries. The reason some economic migration is illegal is that governments have to serve the needs of the people who vote for them and the people who vote for them don't want an uncontrolled flow of cheap competition flooding into their country. But government also has to serve the needs of business, and so they turn a blind eye to immigration while publicly claiming they're going to do something about it.