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The Case for Open Borders
A beautifully-written, broadly accessible, and forthright argument for a solution to the migration open the gates.
Because of restrictive borders, human beings suffer and die. Closed borders force migrants seeking safety and dignity to journey across seas, trudge through deserts, and clamber over barbed wire. In the last five years alone, at least 60,000 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross a border. As we deny, cast out, and crack down, we have stripped borders of their creative potential � as lines of contact, catalyst, and blend � turning our thresholds into barricades.
Brilliant and provocative, The Case for Open Borders deflates the mythology of national security through border lockdowns by revisiting their historical origins; it counters the conspiracies of immigration’s economic consequences; it urgently considers the challenges of climate change beyond the boundaries of narrow national identities.
This book grounds its argument in the experiences and thinking of those on the frontlines of the crisis, spanning the world to do so. In each chapter, through detailed reporting, journalist and translator John Washington profiles a character impacted by borders. He adds to those portraits provocative analyses of the economics and ethics of bordering, concluding that if we are to seek justice or sustainability we must fight for open borders.
In recent years, important thinkers have begun to urge a profoundly different approach to migration, but no book has made the argument as accessible or as compelling. Washington’s case shines with the multitudinous voices of people on the move, a portrait in miniature of what a world with open borders will give to our common future.
Because of restrictive borders, human beings suffer and die. Closed borders force migrants seeking safety and dignity to journey across seas, trudge through deserts, and clamber over barbed wire. In the last five years alone, at least 60,000 people have died or gone missing while attempting to cross a border. As we deny, cast out, and crack down, we have stripped borders of their creative potential � as lines of contact, catalyst, and blend � turning our thresholds into barricades.
Brilliant and provocative, The Case for Open Borders deflates the mythology of national security through border lockdowns by revisiting their historical origins; it counters the conspiracies of immigration’s economic consequences; it urgently considers the challenges of climate change beyond the boundaries of narrow national identities.
This book grounds its argument in the experiences and thinking of those on the frontlines of the crisis, spanning the world to do so. In each chapter, through detailed reporting, journalist and translator John Washington profiles a character impacted by borders. He adds to those portraits provocative analyses of the economics and ethics of bordering, concluding that if we are to seek justice or sustainability we must fight for open borders.
In recent years, important thinkers have begun to urge a profoundly different approach to migration, but no book has made the argument as accessible or as compelling. Washington’s case shines with the multitudinous voices of people on the move, a portrait in miniature of what a world with open borders will give to our common future.
272 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2024
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760 people want to read
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John Washington
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John Washington, American journalist, translator and author
Other authors publishing under this name are:
John Washington, American journalist, translator and author
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 18, 2024
A boy learns that salt makes food tasty. He then proceeds to empty a cup of salt into a plate of food. This is the best way to summarize this book. It is a series of arguments whose main spine is based on x is a benefit derived from immigration. Therefore more and more immigration will yield more and more x. I am not averse to the argument for increased immigration. What I am averse to are arguments that (1) if something is good at one level it must be good unconditionally and (2) imply that if increased immigration brings net positives, then we can all pretend that the pockets of negatives either do not exist or they are manufactured by xenophobes.
In summary, here are twenty one arguments for open borders by the author:
1.Borders have not always been. True. It simply means that it is possible to imagine a world without borders, but this does not tell you what will happen if we decide to abolish them now. In the long run I believe everything will be all right, but lives are lived in the short run.
2.Immigrants don’t steal jobs - they create them. True and false. It depends on the circumstances. And it depends on who benefits. In the long run I believe there will be a net benefit, but politics is all about the short run. This has nothing to do with the “lump of labor� fallacy. It’s from the fact that a lot of life is lived in the short period between disruptions and equilibrium.
3.Immigrants don’t drain government coffers. This is because we have not yet allowed immigrants unfettered access to government coffers.
4.Borders don’t stop crime and violence; they engender crime and violence. The problem of social scientists is that they don’t usually know what they can’t prove.
5.Immigrants don’t threaten communities - they revitalize them. I don’t even know what this means.
6.Migrants rejuvenate. Rejuvenate what?
7.Open borders doesn’t mean a rush to migrate.It does. Most people today are not keen to migrate because of the existing obstacles.
8.The nonsense of nationalism. I don’t know what this means.
9.Closed borders are unethical. . Unconditionally closed borders are unethical.
10.Brain drain ain’t a thing. This is just embarrassingly silly.
11.The Libertarian Case. This author does not want to invoke libertarians. Libertarians also oppose a lot of the things the author stands for.
12.Dehumanizing border machinery targets native residents too. This is not an argument for open borders. It is an argument for a more effective targeting.
13.Open borders are an urgent response to the climate crisis. On the contrary, more immigration to the wealthy countries will increase the per capita use of fossil fuels.
14.Opening borders is economically smart. Only to a degree.
15.Open borders as reparations. Reparations to who?
16.World religions agree: open the borders. Hmm. This is actually a good one. But world religions also understand that there are contexts to such political issues.
17. Closed borders are racist. This is not an argument for open borders. It is an argument for non race-based immigration policy.
18.Walls don’t work. If they don’t work why are you arguing for open borders?
19.Smart walls are stupid. Can’t argue with you there.
20.The right to immigrate / the right to remain.Abstract right s are easy to hand out. Practical rights are difficult to maintain.
21.The simple argument. Most borders were drawn in blood. So opening it is a way to remember the history of the land and conquest. Sound argument there basing public policy on such sentiments.
In summary, here are twenty one arguments for open borders by the author:
1.Borders have not always been. True. It simply means that it is possible to imagine a world without borders, but this does not tell you what will happen if we decide to abolish them now. In the long run I believe everything will be all right, but lives are lived in the short run.
2.Immigrants don’t steal jobs - they create them. True and false. It depends on the circumstances. And it depends on who benefits. In the long run I believe there will be a net benefit, but politics is all about the short run. This has nothing to do with the “lump of labor� fallacy. It’s from the fact that a lot of life is lived in the short period between disruptions and equilibrium.
3.Immigrants don’t drain government coffers. This is because we have not yet allowed immigrants unfettered access to government coffers.
4.Borders don’t stop crime and violence; they engender crime and violence. The problem of social scientists is that they don’t usually know what they can’t prove.
5.Immigrants don’t threaten communities - they revitalize them. I don’t even know what this means.
6.Migrants rejuvenate. Rejuvenate what?
7.Open borders doesn’t mean a rush to migrate.It does. Most people today are not keen to migrate because of the existing obstacles.
8.The nonsense of nationalism. I don’t know what this means.
9.Closed borders are unethical. . Unconditionally closed borders are unethical.
10.Brain drain ain’t a thing. This is just embarrassingly silly.
11.The Libertarian Case. This author does not want to invoke libertarians. Libertarians also oppose a lot of the things the author stands for.
12.Dehumanizing border machinery targets native residents too. This is not an argument for open borders. It is an argument for a more effective targeting.
13.Open borders are an urgent response to the climate crisis. On the contrary, more immigration to the wealthy countries will increase the per capita use of fossil fuels.
14.Opening borders is economically smart. Only to a degree.
15.Open borders as reparations. Reparations to who?
16.World religions agree: open the borders. Hmm. This is actually a good one. But world religions also understand that there are contexts to such political issues.
17. Closed borders are racist. This is not an argument for open borders. It is an argument for non race-based immigration policy.
18.Walls don’t work. If they don’t work why are you arguing for open borders?
19.Smart walls are stupid. Can’t argue with you there.
20.The right to immigrate / the right to remain.Abstract right s are easy to hand out. Practical rights are difficult to maintain.
21.The simple argument. Most borders were drawn in blood. So opening it is a way to remember the history of the land and conquest. Sound argument there basing public policy on such sentiments.
March 7, 2024
With the journalist's eye for story-telling and the social critic's attention to how policies become lived experiences, John Washington offers a gripping assessment of migration's inevitability in his call for open borders. Politicians can choose to erect barriers to migration, as they do throughout North America and Europe, or they can bend to the reality that closing borders is a futile goal with life-threatening consequences. Clearly, Washington leaves no doubt on which side he stands. Whether you stand alongside him or not, The Case for Open Borders is filled with data made accessible and policies that are turned into the stories of real people whose lives are altered, sometimes through death, by the modern fetishization of border policing.
June 21, 2024
Thought-provoking and well-researched, The Case for Open Borders encourages us to dream of a world in which people of all cultures and colors are free to migrate, as humans have for as long as we’ve been on Earth. John Washington opens our eyes to a new way of thinking about how we live and coexist with our neighbors, rather than slamming the door shut on them. It’s an inspirational read that asks the question, “what if?�
March 19, 2024
This book was very good. While I am not sold on open boarders necessarily, I loved hearing a positive argument for more immigration. Too much of the debate on immigration from the left is centered on defending against right wing attacks. We need to have a positive message that immigration is good!
June 24, 2024
As someone who is horrified by the inhumane denigration and treatment of the refugees, knows a little about the carnage of imperialism and interventionism, and is deeply concerned about how climate change is exacerbating the devastation of much of the global south, I picked up this book in hope of a well-rounded dissertation that shows open borders as a superior solution compared to alternative proposals, in addition to resolving some counter-arguments if one considers them in good faith.
Unfortunately, after reading it, my view on this matter is murkier than ever. The book is mostly a collection of fragmented talking points AGAINST closed borders, which aren’t fully developed nor synthesized into a strong case FOR the necessity of open borders. For the most part, the author leaned heavily on borrowed ideas, philosophical/moral rhetorics, tangential analogies (animal migrations are good for the ecosystem, ergo), and circuitous reasoning, e.g. bad policies/ideologies created borders, so banning borders would rectify bad policies/ideologies (really?!).
As a whole, the book suffers from a lack of focus and poorly structured logic that is needed to build a complicated case. Some of the stronger points aren’t delved into until the very last chapter; and even there, only shallowly explored and diluted by other less substantiated claims. Some of the evidence cited by the author isn't entirely true and many can be easily deployed by the opponents, e.g. religious callings, international laws, anthropological events, evolutionary needs, etc.
There are many assertions I found flimsy in the book. But what troubles me most is how much the author likes to pull out statistics to show how immigration benefits the migrants and“hosting countries� (a bit dehumanizing IMO), while has little to say about how open border policy could help solve the root causes and aid those who are left behind or don’t want to migrate. Human beings don’t all share the desire to move away, and many prefer to stay close to their home cultures and communities. In this respect, the proposal of open borders feels like a band-aid solution even if the global north has the political will to implement it; and could potentially lead to further hegemony from the West.
I share the sentiment about this urgent issue with the author and firmly advocate for universal human rights. But I’m unable to see how “XYZ are just artificial constructs� and“act more ethically”—two main arguments drummed throughout the book—would be enough to change hearts and minds if they don’t already sympathize with the idea. If it’s that easy, we would've solved many problems in today's world.
Unfortunately, after reading it, my view on this matter is murkier than ever. The book is mostly a collection of fragmented talking points AGAINST closed borders, which aren’t fully developed nor synthesized into a strong case FOR the necessity of open borders. For the most part, the author leaned heavily on borrowed ideas, philosophical/moral rhetorics, tangential analogies (animal migrations are good for the ecosystem, ergo), and circuitous reasoning, e.g. bad policies/ideologies created borders, so banning borders would rectify bad policies/ideologies (really?!).
As a whole, the book suffers from a lack of focus and poorly structured logic that is needed to build a complicated case. Some of the stronger points aren’t delved into until the very last chapter; and even there, only shallowly explored and diluted by other less substantiated claims. Some of the evidence cited by the author isn't entirely true and many can be easily deployed by the opponents, e.g. religious callings, international laws, anthropological events, evolutionary needs, etc.
There are many assertions I found flimsy in the book. But what troubles me most is how much the author likes to pull out statistics to show how immigration benefits the migrants and“hosting countries� (a bit dehumanizing IMO), while has little to say about how open border policy could help solve the root causes and aid those who are left behind or don’t want to migrate. Human beings don’t all share the desire to move away, and many prefer to stay close to their home cultures and communities. In this respect, the proposal of open borders feels like a band-aid solution even if the global north has the political will to implement it; and could potentially lead to further hegemony from the West.
I share the sentiment about this urgent issue with the author and firmly advocate for universal human rights. But I’m unable to see how “XYZ are just artificial constructs� and“act more ethically”—two main arguments drummed throughout the book—would be enough to change hearts and minds if they don’t already sympathize with the idea. If it’s that easy, we would've solved many problems in today's world.
March 31, 2024
John Washington was interviewed by Ryan Grimm on the Deconstructed podcast () back in FEB 2024. The notion of open borders is not a utopian fantasy, but neither is it an impossibility. One can look to the European Union, minus the moronic Brexit debacle, for something far better than the flag-waving militarization of the US-Mexico borderlands. There are viable solutions to the issues of mass migration and immigration, ones that humanize people and open opportunities over rabid hate and ineffective walls, maiming landmines and traumatizing drones, ignorant nationalism and religious hypocrisy. This has been a topic of discussion for at least three decades now. A warming world, growing acidification of the seas and desertification of the land, the encroaching post-capitalism era, and fragile and destabilizing nations are only contributing to the fact that millions, if not billions, of fellow humans will be in motion over the coming decades searching for safer places and better economic opportunities. That could be you too, with the way things are unraveling, with far too many sleepwalking towards authoritarianism.
Washington grants us first-person perspectives; focuses on the facts of emigration and immigration here and abroad; casts harsh light on the fallacies of the “build a wall� mentality and all the lies used over the decades to reinforce their ethnic bigotry and xenophobic nightmares; gives us an historical accounting of how borders were created from the medieval fiefdoms of yore to the nation-states of today; and, paints a picture of how to create better, stronger, more humane systems that help those in such dire needs—not dehumanize, vilify, and harm them like power-mad tyrants and drooling trolls.
“For one hundred years, from around 1800 to around 1900, three-quarters of all global immigration was to the United States. In the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, the United States remained, by far, the country with the highest levels of immigration. Over one hundred million people have migrated to the United States since the late eighteenth century, and the United States currently has, by far, the largest population of immigrants in the world� (p. 17, Nook).
There is certainly a crisis of mass migration already, and it will be getting far, far worse all around the globe. The system the United States has used over the last 50 years has been an abject failure, with some $400 billion poured into it over just the past 20 years. Twenty years ago, ICE was created. Twenty years ago the “war of terror� was waged and the Department of Homeland Security was created. All of it an abject failure, and now a noticeable portion of the population is flirting with Margaret Atwood daydreams of Christian authoritarianism?
Texas’s draconian SB4 bill () doubles down on the xenophobia, fear-mongering, and dehumanization of desperate others; and, being a fanboy of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, the hosts discussed the legal hypocrisies of SB4 on Monday 25 MAR 2024 () for our edification. As Washington nicely labels such things for what they are: “A political system that implements different laws for different groups of people is, by definition, a system of apartheid� (p. 22).
It’s time to build something new and dynamic, shaped and fueled by humanism, empathy, and empowerment. An open-border mentality could certainly be just that. Washington doesn’t pretend to have the answers for everything, but he grants us the facts and illustrative arguments on how a new system for immigration in a constantly warming world can help humanity writ large, which, to my knowledge, is what most all the prophets of old wished for. Peace on Earth and all that jazz.
Both sides of my family tree immigrated here in the early 20th century: one side escaping the rampaging Bolsheviks, the other fleeing the horror-show of World War I. They took blue-collar jobs in the steel mills and iron works of the Great Lakes, learned to speak a second language, paid their taxes, became consumers, bought houses, raised families, and contributed to community and society. Their offspring served during World War II and Vietnam, the Cold War, Desert Storm, and Iraq. I served in the Army with immigrants from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, etc., who took military service as their pathway to citizenship. I’ve worked in factories with hispanic colleagues who had green cards and eventually earned enough to bring their families here. I’ve worked and studied alongside foreign exchange students looking for a better life and livelihood here. I’ve lived in vibrant heterogenous communities and worked in places where multiple languages were spoken. This is precisely what America is to me (after it was taken by force from the indigenous peoples, of course). Fight for a humane way to help immigrants, to build a better system that enriches the cultural fabric of this country and empowers all of us to do better for the greater good. Otherwise, let’s just give it all back to the ancestors of the indigenous, the rightful heirs of the Americas, and let them sort it all out.
As Washington clearly points out, nationalism is nonsense, and as Einstein once said, “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.�
It truly is.
Washington grants us first-person perspectives; focuses on the facts of emigration and immigration here and abroad; casts harsh light on the fallacies of the “build a wall� mentality and all the lies used over the decades to reinforce their ethnic bigotry and xenophobic nightmares; gives us an historical accounting of how borders were created from the medieval fiefdoms of yore to the nation-states of today; and, paints a picture of how to create better, stronger, more humane systems that help those in such dire needs—not dehumanize, vilify, and harm them like power-mad tyrants and drooling trolls.
“For one hundred years, from around 1800 to around 1900, three-quarters of all global immigration was to the United States. In the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, the United States remained, by far, the country with the highest levels of immigration. Over one hundred million people have migrated to the United States since the late eighteenth century, and the United States currently has, by far, the largest population of immigrants in the world� (p. 17, Nook).
There is certainly a crisis of mass migration already, and it will be getting far, far worse all around the globe. The system the United States has used over the last 50 years has been an abject failure, with some $400 billion poured into it over just the past 20 years. Twenty years ago, ICE was created. Twenty years ago the “war of terror� was waged and the Department of Homeland Security was created. All of it an abject failure, and now a noticeable portion of the population is flirting with Margaret Atwood daydreams of Christian authoritarianism?
Texas’s draconian SB4 bill () doubles down on the xenophobia, fear-mongering, and dehumanization of desperate others; and, being a fanboy of the Strict Scrutiny podcast, the hosts discussed the legal hypocrisies of SB4 on Monday 25 MAR 2024 () for our edification. As Washington nicely labels such things for what they are: “A political system that implements different laws for different groups of people is, by definition, a system of apartheid� (p. 22).
It’s time to build something new and dynamic, shaped and fueled by humanism, empathy, and empowerment. An open-border mentality could certainly be just that. Washington doesn’t pretend to have the answers for everything, but he grants us the facts and illustrative arguments on how a new system for immigration in a constantly warming world can help humanity writ large, which, to my knowledge, is what most all the prophets of old wished for. Peace on Earth and all that jazz.
Both sides of my family tree immigrated here in the early 20th century: one side escaping the rampaging Bolsheviks, the other fleeing the horror-show of World War I. They took blue-collar jobs in the steel mills and iron works of the Great Lakes, learned to speak a second language, paid their taxes, became consumers, bought houses, raised families, and contributed to community and society. Their offspring served during World War II and Vietnam, the Cold War, Desert Storm, and Iraq. I served in the Army with immigrants from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, etc., who took military service as their pathway to citizenship. I’ve worked in factories with hispanic colleagues who had green cards and eventually earned enough to bring their families here. I’ve worked and studied alongside foreign exchange students looking for a better life and livelihood here. I’ve lived in vibrant heterogenous communities and worked in places where multiple languages were spoken. This is precisely what America is to me (after it was taken by force from the indigenous peoples, of course). Fight for a humane way to help immigrants, to build a better system that enriches the cultural fabric of this country and empowers all of us to do better for the greater good. Otherwise, let’s just give it all back to the ancestors of the indigenous, the rightful heirs of the Americas, and let them sort it all out.
As Washington clearly points out, nationalism is nonsense, and as Einstein once said, “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.�
It truly is.
January 28, 2025
While Washington rightly calls for open borders (should really be a demand, en route to their eventual abolition), the book as a whole suffers from eclecticism (for example the varied authors cited supporting Washington’s case include Andreas Malm, Benedict Anderson, Thomas Sowell, and Matty Yglesias!). Def a lot of good info I will use tho.
June 8, 2024
SO GOOD IM SOLD OPEN BORDERS BABEEYYY WHY DO WE SPEND SO MUCH MONEY ON KEEPING PEOPLE OUT FOR NO REASON LOL??? HAHAHAHA
April 10, 2024
Open Borders, or No Borders? Joseph Carens’s distinction between these two ideas gets muddied in this book and with it the possibility of a political strategy to advance the rights of migrants at borders is lost.
Washington admits a soft spot for the sort of social life which flourished in border regions, where cultures of different kinds rub up against each other. Preserving this does not require the strict policing of the border, with all the modern paraphernalia of immigration and customs control reducing contact between people to an irreducible minimum. For intercultural contact to be a net positive it rather needs mature and sophistic citizens who are conscious of the fact in crossing a border they will meet people who do not necessarily think and behave like them. As we are learning at the present moment, strictly policed borders seem to require an enormous commitment to expenditures and resources which can only be justified by hyping up the experiences of contact with others as something inherently undesirable and to avoided wherever possible.
But the elites who run modern states don’t necessarily believe their own propaganda that tightly controlled borders are needed because foreigners are so often devious and untrustworthy people. The higher level justification for ever-tightening immigration controls is the assertion of relations of power between nations competing with one another for access to resources in global markets. This is the reason why the supposed virtue of being able to impede the entry of others onto one’s territory is seldom accompanied by a firm upholding of the right of other countries to stand in the way of its own nationals going as freely as possible across the planet. The capitalist order of things dictates that states which can optimise access to the resources held by other countries, with control concentrated in a cohort of actors who can traverse the globe at will, will have the advantage over nations of the second, third and lower tiers who are left scrabbling to fill in complex forms and paying inordinate visa fees.
Washington brings out this power relationship between imperial and neocolonised states and makes a strong argument about the numerous forms of disadvantage it creates. He frames much of this in the contact of climate change, brought about by the fossil fuel profligacy of the Global North, and the catastrophies it will entail for the nations of the South. Open Borders becomes an argument for reparations for the harm done over the centuries by slavery and colonial domination.
What is less convincing is his claim for a strategy for forcing a step down from policed borders to the openness which will benefit everyone. He agrees that this will be gradual, with the mobilisation of political forces that can challenge the building of walls and the incarceration of would-be migrants, but how this relates to the moods of the demos at any time or context is only loosely sketched out. Overall, he relies on ethical and moral arguments which are adapted in accordance with various audiences � ranging from church goers through to right wing libertarians in a chapter setting out twenty-one arguments for open borders. This is okay in and of itself, but a work which is aiming to integrate a progressive argument for open borders ought to have more focus on what is happening among subaltern social groups, and offer ideas on how these can be fused into a coherent case for radical change. More work to be done on that!
Washington admits a soft spot for the sort of social life which flourished in border regions, where cultures of different kinds rub up against each other. Preserving this does not require the strict policing of the border, with all the modern paraphernalia of immigration and customs control reducing contact between people to an irreducible minimum. For intercultural contact to be a net positive it rather needs mature and sophistic citizens who are conscious of the fact in crossing a border they will meet people who do not necessarily think and behave like them. As we are learning at the present moment, strictly policed borders seem to require an enormous commitment to expenditures and resources which can only be justified by hyping up the experiences of contact with others as something inherently undesirable and to avoided wherever possible.
But the elites who run modern states don’t necessarily believe their own propaganda that tightly controlled borders are needed because foreigners are so often devious and untrustworthy people. The higher level justification for ever-tightening immigration controls is the assertion of relations of power between nations competing with one another for access to resources in global markets. This is the reason why the supposed virtue of being able to impede the entry of others onto one’s territory is seldom accompanied by a firm upholding of the right of other countries to stand in the way of its own nationals going as freely as possible across the planet. The capitalist order of things dictates that states which can optimise access to the resources held by other countries, with control concentrated in a cohort of actors who can traverse the globe at will, will have the advantage over nations of the second, third and lower tiers who are left scrabbling to fill in complex forms and paying inordinate visa fees.
Washington brings out this power relationship between imperial and neocolonised states and makes a strong argument about the numerous forms of disadvantage it creates. He frames much of this in the contact of climate change, brought about by the fossil fuel profligacy of the Global North, and the catastrophies it will entail for the nations of the South. Open Borders becomes an argument for reparations for the harm done over the centuries by slavery and colonial domination.
What is less convincing is his claim for a strategy for forcing a step down from policed borders to the openness which will benefit everyone. He agrees that this will be gradual, with the mobilisation of political forces that can challenge the building of walls and the incarceration of would-be migrants, but how this relates to the moods of the demos at any time or context is only loosely sketched out. Overall, he relies on ethical and moral arguments which are adapted in accordance with various audiences � ranging from church goers through to right wing libertarians in a chapter setting out twenty-one arguments for open borders. This is okay in and of itself, but a work which is aiming to integrate a progressive argument for open borders ought to have more focus on what is happening among subaltern social groups, and offer ideas on how these can be fused into a coherent case for radical change. More work to be done on that!
May 18, 2024
Moving survey of the arguments for open borders. Although I already supported the idea, I did so only poetically and instinctively, but this book lays the foundation for concrete action and policy towards a more just and mobile world. It switches between the political and personal, accounts as told by migrants themselves, and succinct yet complete summaries of imperial history, both ancient and all-too-recent. It is astounding, by the time you reach the end of this book, to think that the idea of open borders is considered radical. It is simply humane.
May 4, 2024
spiritually maybe a 4.5 or 4.75? i liked this though, i think washington is able to put forth impassioned arguments about why borders are harmful and fundamentally dehumanizing. i think there were a few points where i wish we went further into detail about some things, and i think colonialism could have been mentioned a fair bit more, but i think overall the book was really informative and accessible. i think if you liked this you would really like the book resisting borders and technologies of violence
February 13, 2024
“Culture and identity are always in flux and any tradition that depends on denial or exclusion especially when that results in suffering and death is not worth maintaining.�
“What better and more just world can we imagine?�
“What better and more just world can we imagine?�
June 23, 2024
"Another knee-jerk response is that the idea of open borders is simply too radical. But what is so radical about not wanting to be ripped from your family and deported thousands of miles away?" ...
1. Borders have not always been
2. Immigrants don't steal jobs - they create them
3. Immigrants done drain government coffers
4. Borders don't stop crime and violence; they engender crime and violence
5. Immigrants don't threaten communities; they revitalize them
6. Migrants rejuvenate
7. Open borders doesn't mean a rush to migrate
8. The nonsense of nationalism
9. Closed borders are unethical
10. Brain drain ain't a thing
11. The libertarian case
12. Dehumanizing border machinery targets residence too
13. Opening borders is economically smart
14. Open borders are an urgent response to the climate crisis
15. Open borders as reparations
16. World religions agree: open the borders
17. Closed borders are racist
18. Walls don't work
19. "Smart" walls are stupid
20. The right to migrate/the right to remain
21. The simple argument
1. Borders have not always been
2. Immigrants don't steal jobs - they create them
3. Immigrants done drain government coffers
4. Borders don't stop crime and violence; they engender crime and violence
5. Immigrants don't threaten communities; they revitalize them
6. Migrants rejuvenate
7. Open borders doesn't mean a rush to migrate
8. The nonsense of nationalism
9. Closed borders are unethical
10. Brain drain ain't a thing
11. The libertarian case
12. Dehumanizing border machinery targets residence too
13. Opening borders is economically smart
14. Open borders are an urgent response to the climate crisis
15. Open borders as reparations
16. World religions agree: open the borders
17. Closed borders are racist
18. Walls don't work
19. "Smart" walls are stupid
20. The right to migrate/the right to remain
21. The simple argument
March 11, 2025
3.5 stars - very info dense and could be repetitive at times but good points were made as to why borders as we currently have them are not as safe or as protective as people like to think. i liked that he referenced examples from around the world with stories of real people who have been denied human rights just because of where they’re from.
i think where the book lacked was on what exactly the solution is for these problems and how we can move away from the current border system. he touched on it briefly but if you’re making an argument you should explain what the exact steps are for solving it.
overall it was really insightful in the specific border policies that exist and how they were built in the first place. while the idea is definitely feasible, the truth is that society and politicians would much rather thrive at the expense of less privileged people, and so the likelihood of this happening is probably low.
i think where the book lacked was on what exactly the solution is for these problems and how we can move away from the current border system. he touched on it briefly but if you’re making an argument you should explain what the exact steps are for solving it.
overall it was really insightful in the specific border policies that exist and how they were built in the first place. while the idea is definitely feasible, the truth is that society and politicians would much rather thrive at the expense of less privileged people, and so the likelihood of this happening is probably low.
November 22, 2024
A book that will challenge (in a good way) readers from many political stripes. Washington does a good job laying out the case, and I thought it was a curious and interesting choice to end the book with a fusillade of "21 reasons" argued in shorter form.
The book feels well-researched, but I did wonder if there may be some cherrypicking of data, especially when factoids from the early 2000's from a particular state were mentioned.
I was hoping the book would give me some things to think about in light of the housing crisis here in Canada and growing anti-immigrant sentiment across much of the political spectrum. While it isn't incumbent on Washington to solve that by any means, even as a lefty, I still have trouble squaring the idea that fully open borders can work when resource constraints like a massive housing deficit come into play.
The book feels well-researched, but I did wonder if there may be some cherrypicking of data, especially when factoids from the early 2000's from a particular state were mentioned.
I was hoping the book would give me some things to think about in light of the housing crisis here in Canada and growing anti-immigrant sentiment across much of the political spectrum. While it isn't incumbent on Washington to solve that by any means, even as a lefty, I still have trouble squaring the idea that fully open borders can work when resource constraints like a massive housing deficit come into play.
July 16, 2024
In The Case for Open Borders, John Washington makes the argument for why we need to stop our love affair with militant and closed borders. Beyond that, he makes an appeal to our shared humanity. He hits the major arguments hard, dedicating a chapter each to history, economics, politics, and the environment. He also provides a number of supporting arguments to back those up. Conveniently, Washington provides a summary of 21 arguments in the back that serve as quick and easy reference. In addition to those arguments, he provides some gut-wrenching accounts from migrants describing their journeys through our draconian border measures. I think it's adequately hard-hitting and if this can't appeal to your humanity, I'm wondering what will.
October 10, 2024
I came to this book via The Border Chronicle a newsletter and podcast by the excellent journalists Melissa del Bosque and Todd Miller. Washington makes his Case persuasively using history, current situations, philosophy, and economics, along with personal narratives. He makes clear that Open Borders does not mean "free for all." And looks at what it might mean. I am very much against the militarization and surveillance technology that the US and particularly Israel employ/deploy at their borders (and send to other countries along with the training that goes along with installing and using it--commodifying the mindset). I haven't tried out some of his arguments on any of my friends who do not agree with me, but I plan to. Very readable. I learned a lot.
January 20, 2025
Me gustó mucho la manera en que el autor ha sintetizado las 21 razones a favor de las fronteras abiertas en este libro. Obviamente le doy 5 estrellas por su mensaje y por la síntesis. Excelente libro para quienes quieren adentrarse al tema desde una perspectiva ética asequible.
Creo que en mi entorno he sido bombardeado con tanta política antiinmigración que al leer este libro estuve en la posición del abogado del diablo y creo que faltaron muchas contra-referencias para la argumentación.
Me pareció que Open Borders de Ryan Kaplan tiene mejores contra-argumentos y más referencias a estudios económicos. Ighual lo agregaré a mi repisa virtual de estudios migratorios.
Creo que en mi entorno he sido bombardeado con tanta política antiinmigración que al leer este libro estuve en la posición del abogado del diablo y creo que faltaron muchas contra-referencias para la argumentación.
Me pareció que Open Borders de Ryan Kaplan tiene mejores contra-argumentos y más referencias a estudios económicos. Ighual lo agregaré a mi repisa virtual de estudios migratorios.
June 6, 2024
Absolutely fantastic account of the imperative need for opening the boarders globally. Washington makes a concise, beautifully written, and compelling case for the importance of this shift, as boarders daily become increasingly militarized and the climate crisis stalks communities across the globe. This is a perfectly laid out book and I hope to share it in many anti-imperial, decolonization, and anti-capitalist organizing spaces widely.
Thanks to the author for such a comprehensive and empathetic account on this subject.
Thanks to the author for such a comprehensive and empathetic account on this subject.
July 22, 2024
An incredibly important reimagining of our world. Washington looks at the economic, sociological, political, and environmental impacts of border law and rhetoric, and envisions a (familiar) world without the violence that borders inflict. Will be buying and rereading!
October 28, 2024
Articulate. Clear. Concise. I am so happy that a book like this exists, and is able to take a seemingly-complicated topic and make it extremely simple. In a way that is more accessible and more human than maybe any other book like this that I've ever read.
March 9, 2025
World-view shifting! Practical, logical, and moral arguments provided. De-naturalized assumptions about the necessity of borders and mobility restriction as essential aspects of nation-building/maintaining. Would recommend to all!
May 27, 2024
Forthcoming review on JIMBOTIMES.COM! :D
July 1, 2024
Highly highly highly recommend. Contains numerous moral and economic arguments for ending such a cruel and arbitrary system of violence.
September 25, 2024
A necessary book in these xenophobic times.
October 30, 2024
Absurdly good & compelling book.
November 5, 2024
A compelling read! I read this precisely because I knew it would challenge ideas that were deeply rooted in my Westernized psyche about immigration law and reform.
December 13, 2024
Rly liked this but prob a little repetitive/longer than needed to be in some chapters for me
February 10, 2025
This is a thought provoking book on the issue of immigration.
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