Immigration is shaking up electoral politics around the world. Anti-immigration and ultra-nationalistic politics is rising in Europe, the United States, and many countries across Asia and Africa. What is causing this nativist fervor? Are immigrants the cause or merely a common scapegoat?

In Blaming Immigrants, economist Neeraj Kaushal investigates the core causes of rising anxiety in host countries and tests common complaints against immigration. Do immigrants replace host country workers or create new jobs? Are they a net gain or a net drag on host countries? She finds that immigration, on balance, is beneficial to host countries. It is neither the volume nor pace of immigration but the willingness of nations to accept, absorb, and manage new immigration that is fueling disaffection. Kaushal delves into the demographics of immigrants worldwide, the economic tides that carry them, and the policies that shape where they make their new homes. She demystifies common misconceptions about immigration, showing that the level of global mobility is historically typical; that most immigration occurs through legal frameworks; that the U.S. system, far from being broken, works quite well most of the time and its unique features are replicated by many countries; and that proposed anti-immigrant measures are likely to cause suffering without deterring potential migrants.

A hundred years ago, discontents led many countries to close their doors to new immigration. Will history repeat itself? Many countries have responded to the growing public and political discontent toward immigrants with restrictive policies, stronger enforcement, increased electronic and human cross-border surveillance, and by constructing detention centers, walls, fences, and other physical barriers. In Blaming Immigrants, Kaushal documents that restrictive policies have generally failed to reduce immigration. When countries build fences or walls, immigrants take hazardous routes to immigrate; they fall into the clutches of illegal human traffickers, who create illegal channels for migration. Restrictive policies, therefore, are not a solution to the core economic fears and anxiety of host countries. On the contrary, failed enforcement measures fuel anxiety toward refugees and illegal immigrants. Kaushal argues that immigration, on balance, is beneficial to both host and sending countries. Countries that manage to integrate immigrants experience less disaffection against immigrants than those that alienate them.