International Migration: An Obstacle to Achieving World Stability

Re-posted by Nicholas Stix
 

Current migration policy tends to run counter to the interests of both the country of origin and the recipient country
By John H. Tanton
The Ecologist
vol. 6: 221-227 (1976)

Overview

In 1975, John Tanton’s essay “International Migration” placed third in the Mitchell Prize competition. The award was given during the Limits to Growth Conference in the Woodlands, Texas. The Conference was sponsored by the University of Houston and Mitchell Energy and Development Corp. The paper became the cover story for The Ecologist, in July 1976. This essay is the earliest formal record of Dr. Tanton’s initiating thoughts on immigration reform.

The movement needed a readily reproducible handout. It now had one. This essay planted the seed from which immigration reform germinated. While his subsequent writings reveal a deeper insight, none is more prescient or pivotal.

View the John Tanton video interview on the Mitchell prize essay.
 

Abstract

The migration of the educated elite from the less to the more developed countries of the world is actively encouraged by the receiving nations; but exploitation of their human resources is as damaging to the under-developed nations as the exploitation of their material resources. At a different level migrant workers seeking employment in countries richer than their own are at the mercy of the host nation’s economy. When growth rates fall and job opportunities are scarce, they are the first to be discharged, and consequently to become a burden on the welfare of the receiving country. When controls are tightened, frustrated hopes of better opportunities lead to an increase in illegal immigration.

This paper was originally given at the Limits to Growth Conference 1975 and won third place in the Mitchell Prize Competition.

Read the whole thing here.