A View from the United States - Social, Economic, and Legal Change, the Persistence of the State, and Immigration Policy in the Coming Century

In this article, Professor Scanlan argues that in spite of recent trends toward globalism, traditionally composed nation-states, especially the United States, will continue to exercise localized control over immigration and receiving nations may pursue increasingly restrictive policies. The author begins with a history of recent U.S. and European Union (EU) immigration policies, positing that State self-interest has always played a central role. Next, he traces the post-World War II development of the "international refugee regime" as well as the development of the European Union's "open"- labor market. Professor Scanlan predicts that international agencies will become less efficacious for several reasons, including the loss of their galvanizing force, the fight against communism. Next he argues that though labor moves relatively freely throughout EU Member States, the EU's stance on immigration from non-EU States has become more and more restrictionist. Further, to the extent the labor market is open, the situation developed out of circumstances peculiar to post-War Europe, and therefore the EU example provides little hope that North America will become similarly unified. The author concludes with a prediction that with the possible exception of concerted responses to emergencies, the nation-states of the developed world will continue to pursue self-interested immigration policies, including the vigorous guarding of their borders.