How Migration Really Works_22 things you need to know about the most divisive issue in politics
Key Data
- Author: Hein de Haas
- Published: 2024
- Purchase link: here
- Finished reading on: 23.07.2025
Content
The book goes through 22 popular claims about migration and weighs them against scientific evidence. Through this process, it explains the main reasons for migration, the terminology behind it, and offers a look at the reality on the ground.
Why Did I Read It?
I am a child of immigrants and see migration as one of the most contentious issues in today’s politics. Therefore, I was interested in the topic and wanted to gain a better understanding.
Thoughts After Finishing
The book is well-written, and the intention behind it is very noble. My knowledge of the issue was significantly expanded, and my opinion has shifted toward a more holistic perspective. The first two sections, in particular, were very interesting and compelling.
Main Takeaways
This book gave me a more realistic image of migration and the facts around it. Key insights include:
- Immigration levels relative to the population have remained constant over centuries (around 3 percent).
- Most immigrants are internal migrants.
- Most international migrants (80–90 percent) are legal.
- There is a very small number of refugees (relative to the world population, it's around 0.3 percent), and most of them don't travel far.
- The main motivation for migration is labor demand.
- Migration is an intrinsic economic phenomenon that accompanies economic development. (So the best way to stop immigration would be to slow economic growth in destination countries.) Development is non-linear — it starts low in less developed countries, rises in mid-developed countries (as a result of aspirations and capabilities to emigrate increasing), and slows back down in highly developed countries.
- Migrants have low crime rates — the biggest danger is the second generation committing crimes due to bad policy that makes them more susceptible.
- The economic effects of migration on destination and origin countries are mostly negligible and very local.
- Border restrictions increase the number of immigrants in destination countries because:
- Migrants don’t leave out of fear of not being able to return.
- Migrants bring over their families.
- Those with vague aspirations to emigrate now all act on them out of FOMO (fear of missing out).
- Migrants still find new routes to enter illegally.
Criticisms
- The last section, “Migration Propaganda” was underwhelming for me, as the myths discussed are not part of the discourse around me. It also often strayed off-topic into discussing xenophobia and racism and their effects (which I personally already knew).
- Some concepts are repeated too often for my taste and start to become annoying by the fifth, slightly different explanation.