Question about open borders...

[SayWhatYo]

I know this is a hot topic and it seems to be split 50/50 here at DU. Anyways, my question is for those who support open borders in the US. Do you also believe that all other countries should have open borders, or just the US? Should I be able to move up to Canada if I feel like it? It it only the US that needs to open the borders because we "stole" the land?

I'm not really looking for a debate on if the borders should be open or not.. I mean, there are plenty of those, right? I'm more curious as to where open borders should be applied, and why.

[ret5hd]

1. Any country that insists that others permit the free flow of...

capital should accept their own borders be open to the free flow of labor.

[SayWhatYo]

2. Wouldn't that be almost any country?

[pampango]

3. There are, or at least were, many countries that restrict the flow

of capital. Allowing foreign capital also brings foreign influence. Allowing your country's capital to leave can be considered bad for your own economy.

Not sure under current GATT and other world trade rules whether some of these considerations are not applicable any more, except in the "isolated" countries, like North Korea.

[dave_p]

4. Many accept free capital flow under duress

... it comes as the price of IMF/World bank assistance.

So I'd apply it only to those who urge it on others rather than accept it for themselves.

[dave_p]

5. Not just the US

I think more open borders should go with a free-market oulook for msot developed countries. There may be local reasons for some controls, but refugee flows tend to respond appropriately to adverse conditions. I don't make it (or anything else) an absolute, but I think it's an aspiration worth working toward.

I don't ask it of poor countries, which face entirely different domestic conditions. In practice many barely have border control anyway, through geographical or financial constraints.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Please define 'open border'. In my opinion, the vast majority of countries throughout the world

have open borders. I lived a few years in Minnesota, and crossed and recrossed the border with Canada without any problem. Ditto for when I lived in Tucson, AZ and vistied Mexico many times. American citizens cross both borders daily to work at jobs in either country. That's an 'open border' to me. The same applies to the countries in Europe.

[SayWhatYo]

9. I define open borders

as the ability of anyone to get up and take residence anywhere. Basically, if someone wanted to leave country A to goto country B, then they only have to show up in the country, fill out some forms and then they're a citizen.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. There's no place where that happens. Each country has forms to be filled out

in a stay is longer than 180 days. You can easily become a 'resident' of another country, such as Canada by owning property and sometimes, via a work permit, having worked in the country X number of years. To become a citizen, you would first have to renounce your American citizenship, study the history of the new country, have a sponsor, or take a test. There are usually a set number of years you must remain a resident of that country before being considered for citizenship.

I believe you confuse residency and citizenship. In your OP, you said you wanted to move to Canada and implied that you'd be denied the opportunity. That's also not true. Canada has a 'point' system to determine who gets to become a resident there (residents don't get to vote). It includes such things as your education level, profession, family ties to Canada, etc. If you were to interview and apply for a job with a Canadian company and were offered the position, you would need a work permit and then you could 'legally' move to Canada.

[Sapere aude]

7. The problem with open boarders between Mexico and the US is the huge

disparity in the standard of living between the peoples of the two countries. If the labor laws and wage rates were the same it would make no difference because there would be jobs in Mexico that Americans would seek just as there are jobs in America that Mexicans seek.

Talking about open boarders yes or no is like the conservatives who believe in their ideology no mater what the consequences.

[pampango]

8. As Dave posted, free capital movements and free human movements

should be related. Mexico is required to keep its border open to foreign capital, though DU'ers are not responsible for that, we should realize that it is the case. Mexico may feel that, as long as they are required to keep their border open to capital movement, we should be required to respond with an open border for human movement.

We may argue that that would be disruptive to segments of our economy, but they may argue that foreign capital in Mexico may be responsible for disruptions in parts of their economy. They could rightly feel that they are getting the short end of the stick with the current arrangement.