ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I make a case for a rational policy in immigration control. A rational policy is one that achieves ‘maximum social gain’. Rational policymaking imples that governments choose only those policies that result in net gains to society, and which exceed costs by the greatest amount, and they should refrain from policies if costs are not exceeded by gains. Rationalism is not to be viewed in a narrow pounds-and-pence framework. Rationalism requires there to be a calculation of all social, political, and economic values which is either sacrificed or achieved by the adoption of a public policy. A rational immigration policy will accordingly, consider the needs of the domestic
labour market alongside inimical public opinion; national security concerns alongside the observation of human rights obligations, questions of social absorption alongside the expenditure in increased regulation, and domestic interests alongside international solidarity with developing countries. It could pave the way for an understanding of how migration can best be managed. A rational policy may allow new paradigms for effective and fair immigration ‘policy’ to be developed, in a way that no other policy could. It may yet be possible to show that the developed world can have a policy that is fair, both to sending and receiving immigration countries, because it is able to factor in both economic and ethical principles.
