How Many Would Really Come if the Borders Were Open?
By Matthew Sussis on May 8, 2019
A recent global Gallup poll found that 158 million adults around the world said they would migrate to the United States if they could. However, Gallup only polled adults, meaning the actual total number of people who would come to the United States is much larger because it would likely include children. Curiously, nowhere in the Gallup report are child family members mentioned. When one factors in a chain-migration multiplier, the number of potential migrants is much larger.
There are obviously a range of variables when it comes to guessing the full impact of the hypothetical migration of 158 million adults to the United States. Nonetheless, under different scenarios modeled below, we estimate that anywhere from 386 to 703 million people around the globe (adults plus children) would migrate to the United States if they could.
Of course, as Gallup notes, the number of actual migrants tends to be much smaller than the number of potential migrants. Still, these eye-opening numbers highlight the risks of an open-borders scenario, where anyone who'd like to come to the United States with their family has that option.
https://cis.org/Sussis/How-Many-Would-Really-Come-if-Borders-Were-Open
