Interesting post by Tyler Cowen. I think there is a legitimate charitable element to immigration. We don’t offer asylum to persecuted foreigners primarily to help ourselves, although that may sometimes be a happy side-effect. We should “welcome the stranger,” as the Catholic bishops say. Of course, that’s not to say that we should necessarily welcome 1.5 million strangers each year, especially if trying to do so makes it impossible truly to welcome them, by integrating them into the community. In that case, limiting immigration might be good for natives and newcomers alike.