The Lancet just published an editorial that essentially supports unlimited migration — although it doesn’t use that term — and makes no distinction between legal and illegal immigration. From, “Migration a Reality, Not an Emergency:”

Migration is among the oldest facts of human life, yet it is treated as one of the newest emergencies: anti-immigration protests have intensified in the UK and immigration raids have swept US cities. As we mark World Refugee Day, the follow-up Review to the 2018 UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, published in this issue, renews the Commission’s call for action and asks whether, in a climate shaped by fear, evidence can still drive policy.

Migration is among the oldest facts of human life, yet it is treated as one of the newest emergencies: anti-immigration protests have intensified in the UK and immigration raids have swept US cities. As we mark World Refugee Day, the follow-up Review to the 2018 UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health, published in this issue, renews the Commission’s call for action and asks whether, in a climate shaped by fear, evidence can still drive policy.

The editorial ignores international and national laws. In the United States, for example, to become a refugee, one must apply for entry under that status while still outside the country. Being granted legal asylum is supposed to take more than simply traveling to a location where one wants to reside. Economic migration doesn’t qualify for either refugee or asylum status. In other words, immigrants are not supposed to be able to go to any country they choose and be entitled to stay.

Not that the editorialists care.

The Review finds that migration and forced displacement continue to rise, driven by conflict, climate change, and economic........

© National Review