Originally published: London : Little, Brown, 2006

Bibliography: pages 334-359.

Introduction. Migration isn't just for the birds : it's time for fresh thinking about immigration
1. War on our borders : the hidden costs of immigration controls
2. Border crossing : how migrants got to where they are now
3. Why we need the huddled masses : the case for low-skilled migration
4. The global talent contest : the pros and cons of high-skilled migration
5. Cosmopolitan and rich : the economic benefits of diversity
6. Stealing our jobs? : do immigrants displace local workers?
7. Snouts in our trough? : are immigrants a burden on the welfare state?
8. 'Our heroes' : how migration helps poor countries
9. Brain drain of brain gain? : the costs and benefits of skilled emigration
10. It needn't be forever : the case for temporary migration
11. Alien nation? : does immigration threaten national identity?
12. Huntington and Hispanics : is Latino immigration splitting America in two?
13. Stranger, can you spare a dime? : does immigration threaten social solidarity
14. Learning to live together : how to integrate immigrants into society
15. Illiberal Islam? : do Muslim immigrants threaten our security and our way of life?
16. Open borders : let them in

Immigration divides our globalizing world like no other issue. We are swamped by illegal immigrants and infiltrated by terrorists, our jobs stolen, our welfare system abused, our way of life destroyed- or so we are told. At a time when National Guard units are deployed alongside vigilante Minutemen on the U.S.-Mexico border, where the death toll in the past decade now exceeds 9/11's, Philippe Legrain has written the first book about immigration that looks beyond the headlines. Why are ever-rising numbers of people from poor countries arriving in the United States, Europe, and Australia? Can we keep them out? Should we even be trying? Combining compelling firsthand reporting from around the world, incisive socioeconomic analysis, and a broad understanding of what¹s at stake politically and culturally, Immigrants is a passionate but lucid book. In our open world, more people will inevitably move across borders, Legrain says--and we should generally welcome them. They do the jobs we can¹t or won¹t do--and their diversity enriches us all. Left and Right, free marketeers and campaigners for global justice, enlightened patriots--all should rally behind the cause of freer migration, because They need Us and We need Them."--Jacket