The statistic I remember most clearly from Threads is how five out of every six people benefit from immigration. I’ve heard similar analyses in other places, each instance a subtle suggestion that we should rip open all our borders like birthday presents and immediately enjoy the limitless gift of fully unrestricted movement. At the very least, it implies that perhaps anti-immigration policies should be reconsidered due to their overall net harm to the country.
Being a bit-part immigrant myself, I suspect I’m bound by some kind of duty to fully support all aspects of the open borders position. And let’s be honest, reader, five out of six is pretty good, why that's me, you, and three others who benefit each time our borders swell with the gift of another entrant. It seems crazy to consider that when five out of six win, the best strategy would involve doing something else.
And yet, I can’t really see the first five in that statistic until I learn more about that last one. When five out of six benefit, doesn’t that mean one out of six is harmed? I’m not exactly sure who that one out of six is supposed to be but this person must exist somewhere. I wonder how that one person is harmed by immigration and what we collectively do to help that one person. My intuition suggests immigration causes far more harm to this one person than it does help me and my party of five, partly because my hunch is that we provide next to no help for the one in six. If there is a good reason why someone being harmed by pro-immigration policy would support it, I’ve yet to hear it.
It seems to me that the best way to implement pro-immigration policies has little to do with implementing pro-immigration policies. It has nothing to do with pandering to the majority or appealing for enough support to steamroll any and all opposition. The best thing to do would be to think about that one out of six. Why are they in the one and not in the five? Did their workplaces close because neighbors prefer to order slightly cheaper goods over their slightly faster phones from slightly more profitable companies? Are they the homeless who sleep under ‘refugees welcome’ signs? Are they crippled veterans, collecting a steady supply of thank yous and loose change in their Styrofoam cups? Not all of these things are directly or even indirectly related to immigration but in a certain way it doesn’t matter – if someone feels part of that one out of six, there probably isn’t going to be much support for any pro-immigration policies.
The key is to get to six out of six. Until we get six out of six, we haven’t accomplished anything. Those who have been harmed need real needs met and real concerns addressed, with the five out of six being a logical starting point to provide such support. Six out of six happens when everybody shares the benefit from immigration, not when the benefits apply to a select handful. When everybody benefits, it will cease to be a policy debate. When everybody benefits, immigration will become just another welcome fact of life. If we can get to five of six, which is admittedly very good, then I think it's worth going for six of six. If we can find a way to bring along that one person we leave behind today, if we can somehow become a six for six country, then we can truly say we’ve found a way to work together, that we can benefit fully and equally from the potential of diversity, and that we can finally be worthy of all those who want to move here and build their future on our foundation.
