Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders (Hardcover)

~ Jason L. Riley (Author) "The magazines and the illustrators are long gone and largely forgotten, but the images endure..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Latin America, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The argument that immigrants depress wages, displace workers, boost crime and disease, and pose a threat to the national security of the U.S. runs counter to political ideals of free trade and the views of conservative hero President Ronald Reagan, who supported amnesty for illegal immigrants and open borders, according to Riley, a conservative columnist. He briefly examines the long and sordid history of opposition to immigrants from Germany, Ireland, China, and, more recently, Latin America. Riley notes that immigration opponents are joined in their resistance to open borders by some environmentalists concerned about the impact on the earth of a burgeoning U.S. population. He challenges the notion that the current targets of immigrant ire—Hispanics—are somehow different from immigrants of the past. Riley also explores the compatibility between open immigration and free-market conservatism and homeland security. Because immigrants strengthen the economy through their labor and entrepreneurism, our policy on immigration should recognize economic realities and focus on providing legal ways for immigrants to enter the country through guest-worker programs, according to Riley. An illuminating look at immigration. --Vanessa Bush

Review

“The immigration debate seems to have been taken over by shrill anti-immigrant voices. Ace editorialist Jason Riley restores some balance with this calm, reasoned, highly compelling presentation of the case for immigration. His fact- laden polemic should make even the most die-hard xenophobe think twice. He shows why immigrants are a net plus, and why illegal immigration isn’t the crisis it has been made out to be.”
—Max Boot, senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, author of War Made New and Savage Wars of Peace

“Jason Riley puts today's fierce immigration debate into perspective, and he does so with crisp writing and thoughtful analysis. Let Them In is a welcome contribution to a national discussion that is too often dominated by fear-mongering and misinformation. Free-market adherents ought to embrace open- immigration policies, and this tightly drawn book explains why.”
—Arthur Laffer, Chairman of Laffer Associates

“Jason Riley makes a very comprehensive argument for an Open Borders policy. People on all sides of this would do well to understand where he is coming from.”
—Lawrence Lindsey, former chief economic adviser to President George W. Bush

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592403492
• ISBN-13: 978-1592403493
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #95,618 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Read it with a grain of salt, July 22, 2008

By	J. Davis (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Jason Riley, a writer for the Wall Street Journal editorial page, presents a brief for unlimited immigration from Mexico to the U.S. While Let Them In is well-written and thought-provoking, I remain far from convinced unlimited immigration is really the best thing for America and for my state of California. Riley is certainly right on one thing: the U.S. cannot simply eliminate immigration completely. But in conceding that point, I do not therefore admit that unregulated mass immigration is a good thing. Riley nowhere discusses the cost of schooling illegal children, or the fact that many American universities (unfairly) allow in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. I've seen studies by economists that illegal immigration costs California billions of dollars. It would be a mistake in my judgment to take Let Them In as the final word on the subject.

I also don't think Riley appreciates the cultural aspects of mass Hispanic immigration. That is what drives most of the angry calls to the talk radio hosts that he criticizes in the book. Certainly, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity (or Lou Dobbs, etc..) are not above criticism, but a free-marketeer like Riley should understand they are responding to popular demand. A majority of Americans --70% in a major poll done by the Council of Foreign Relations-- want immigration reduced or eliminated. Riley doesn't seem to understand--or to even want to understand-- this frustration. In a democratic system of government is it remarkable that politicians want to at least pretend to support their constituents' demands on this subject? Nor is it unreasonable for talk show hosts to tailor their show to the desires of their listeners.

For all my criticism, I still recommend reading the book. Just don't take it as the final word on the subject.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A case well argued, May 11, 2009

By	Bojan Tunguz "Dr. Bojan Tunguz" (Greencastle, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders (Paperback)

The thinking on the immigration, both in the US and even more so in other countries, is dominated by emotional arguments. In the light of that it is truly refreshing to come across a book like "Let Them In" where a principled free-market conservative ideas are promoted. In an era when there is an increasing interconnection and interdependence of world economies on each other, it becomes ever more untenable to insist on free exchange of goods and services, while preventing the free flow of people. This is particularly true in the light of the fact that it is precisely the human capital that drives most of the advanced economies forward.

Reilly is a journalist for Wall Street Journal, and this is reflected in his accessible and engaging writing style. The book is an easy read, well researched, and clear in its arguments. It is quite possible that there are flaws in those arguments, but if there are any they should be dealt on the intellectual and not personal level. The issues dealt in this book are already rife with passions on both sides of the debate and it is not helpful if they are only dealt in the lowest-common-denominator manner. Hopefully this book will help create a way for this debate to be elevated to a higher level of discourse.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Statistics, Damn Statistics & Lies, January 4, 2009

By	R. J. McCabe (Seattle by way of Arizona - Go Wildcats! Go Huskies!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Let Them In: The Case for Open Borders (Hardcover)

Basically Mr Riley claims in this book that low skill/low wage immigrants are good for the country because they help expand the economic pie by filling jobs that there aren't enough Americans to fill. He also claims that immigrants are not a net drain on society due to their demand for social services, and any environmental impacts or security risks they may pose.

I wonder what Mr. Riley's take on the illegal immigration issue would be if he lived in a Southwest border town, rather than in suburban New York City (about as far away from the current massive influx from Latin America as you can get).

Riley chooses to bury us with numerous studies to prove his points that illegal immigrants aren't hurting, but in fact are helping the country. At first, this sounds impressive. But ultimately all the statistics beg a few key questions:

* How do we know how many illegal immigrants are in the country to calculate the statistics?
* What will be the net impacts on US society a few generations from now?
* What "side effects" are occurring that can't be easily framed in a few simple statistics?
* Even if the "net" effect is positive, how do we reimburse the burdensome costs to localities that are certainly adversely impacted?

While I agree with him on some issues -- Latino immigrants aren't a particular national security risk being one -- his use (abuse?) of selected (sometimes unnamed) studies is of concern to me.

In summary, the phrase "statistics, damn statistics, and lies" seemed to summarize the book all to well for me.