Unless they are of aboriginal descent, every person in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, (pretty much all of the Americas) are either immigrants or the descendants of immigrants or colonialists.

So the lack of compassion towards immigrants of all kinds, from people who’s ancestors were immigrants themselves, is absolutely stupefying and hypocritical.

Just to clarify the anarchist critique of immigration control is a bit more complex than “No Borders! No Nations!” Anarchists are generally against immigration controls because we oppose placing restrictions on people, especially in regards to where they can travel and live. We also realise that these restrictions are limited to people (and often only a certain class of people) and not the free movement of capital which most countries actively encourage.

While millions of people are refused entry to first world countries their economies are supported by large amounts of immigrant labour, both “legal” and “illegal”. This is useful for capitalism because having a group of people deemed “illegal” puts them in a precarious position meaning their labour is devalued allowing businesses to save money by hiring immigrant labour. The hysteria around immigration also acts as a smokescreen for the structural problems of capitalism (lack of jobs, low wages etc.) and keeps the working class divided.

We as anarchists also understand that many of the reasons people flee their homes are directly related to capitalism and imperialism. Whether it is wars over resources displacing people or economic hardship caused by years of colonial (and post-colonial) rule. The anarchist solution to immigration, in the short term, may be to open up the borders but in the long run we support economic independence and aid for these countries to allow them to build up their infrastructure to the point where people don’t have to flee their homelands and risk their lives for the chance of a better life.