Why the Border Debate Gets Migration All Wrong

You're trying to get beyond crisis management, correct?

That's exactly right.

Yeah.

Okay.

Can you define migration for us as it relates to the difference between immigration or emigration? But just when you talk about migration, what do you talk about?

We're talking about people who are on the move, people who are moving from the place where they were born and raised.

Sometimes they're just moving within their countries.

So, you know, we have migrants who've moved from state to state here in the United States.

And oftentimes it's people who are moving across borders.

Why are they moving?

Well, they move for a variety of reasons, same reasons that you and I might move, either job opportunity, lack of jobs at home.

Conflict is driving people, especially in Africa at the moment.

The impacts of a changing climate, so wildfires, earthquakes, floods, drought, that's pushing people increasingly to move.

In fact, that's the number one reason people are moving when they're not choosing to move.

But the number one reason people go is to find opportunity.

There's an interesting statement on your website.

Among your goals, you say migration is and has been for centuries a cornerstone of development, prosperity, and progress for many.

As the world faces major global transformations from climate change, demographic transition, and urbanization to digitization, migration can and should be part of the solution.

So what's the solution you're seeking when you reference it in that way?

So think about changing demographics, for one.

In Japan, they have a rapidly aging population.

They simply don't have the young people to do the work that their economy relies on, much less even enough young people to take care of the aging population.

Now, of course, countries are experimenting with technology to fill some of those gaps, but when we look at what are the range of needs across labor sectors, technology isn't going to fill all those gaps.

And ultimately, we know here, right, you don't necessarily want a robot taking care of grandma, right? So having people move with job opportunities is a critical part of the work we do, and the more that that movement can be planned, the more that it can be part of a government's development plan, the more that it can be done in concert with local populations so that services are sufficient for the people who might be coming in, the more success we see.