Sovereignty, Legal Regimes, and International Migration

Economists identify three factors of production: natural resources, human resources, and capital. While natural resources are finite, capital and human resources are transferable to where they may best be utilized. Capital may now be moved across global markets within a matter of seconds. In stark contrast, however, the movement of human resources remains highly regulated, as states jealously guard their sovereign right to control the entry and stay of foreigners. The issue of international migration presently poses vexing questions in virtually every industrialized state. On the one hand, many need migrants to maintain their labour force, given their aging population and low fertility rates. Yet on the other, fear of attacks by the far right, community insecurities, and complaints of job losses, coupled with an increase in asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, has left policy makers floundering.