https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/29/politicians-immigration-wrong-cheap-labour
I have no idea how this passed the Guardian censors but this is spot on.
There are always some things I will disagree with. But the essence that it costs money to migrate is absolutely true, poor people generally can not pay a Coyote.
I would add the era of cheap mass transportation. I worked out that when the train first came to where I am not that far from Denver a ticket would have cost a skilled tradesman, say a Carpenter the equivalent of what it would cost for me to fly from Denver to China now.
Some of his numbers are just wrong, I think there are about a million immigrants to the US a year, but there are currently about 10,000 a day crossing the southern border. Obviously that ratio varies time and by country.
I do agree with this:
This is nothing new, ask the Romans.