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Notes -
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-march-2022/how-many-people-are-detained-or-returned
So if you illegally cross the border, there is a 90% chance that you get to stay. Even if you are removed, nothing stops you just... trying again. What can that possibly be but de facto open borders?
If the UK were to implement an official policy of open borders (i.e. no legal restraints on the freedom of non-citizens to live and work within the borders of the UK), do you think the immigration would rise, fall, or remain the same compared to the current "de facto open borders"?
It would assumedly rise, as some number of people will be law-abiding even when it's widely known that breaking said law is never punished (and in fact rewarded with 4-star hotel stays at the taxpayer's expense.) In the same way that smoking weed is, in many ways, de facto legal, in that the police don't generally bother to arrest people for possession of it. But still a lot of people won't partake just because of the fact that it's illegal.
But the fact remains that there is no serious effort made to remove illegals from our borders. If you can come here illegally and most likely never be removed, what else can I possibly call it?
Salutary neglect? The outcome of the tension between competing priorities? The point remains that calling the status quo 'open borders' is Frankfurtian bullshit, a rhetorical flourish meant to provoke an emotional response, not an accurate description.
I find this analogy apposite, in that formal legalization of marijuana has led to a dramatic uptick in usage. It wasn't just that people were deterred by the illegality (though that was certainly a part of it); marijuana became significantly more accessible. Similarly, an actual open borders policy would lead to far more immigration than what you see under a regime of half-assed immigration enforcement. Being an illegal immigrant puts you in a precarious position - not only are you effectively barred from all but the lowest rungs of the employment ladder, you are perpetually concerned with the threat of deportation. It's not particularly likely, but it is non-trivial (again, the marijuana analogy is somewhat apt). Legal immigration is a lot more secure and appealing. Making access to that status unqualified would draw far more people.
How many NGOs operating boats from Africa have been shut down, leaders arrested, assets seized?
The Greeks have arrested a few people but I'm not sure how that turned out. Don't think any other countries have.
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I'm not sure how you guys do your statistics, but it seems to me that "the number of people who enter the UK illegally" is not necessarily the same as "the number of people who are detained for entering the UK illegally." Presumably some number are not detected.
Also true, but I can only use the numbers we have. You don't know what you don't know, after all.
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