Immigrationality

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1. Can we achieve tight borders

The proposal to tighten down national or supernational borders, e.g. the EU
border, is ultimately a futile endeavor.
Every nation or political region will still want to allow tourists, trade,
diplomacy, highly-qualified and menial workers, and asylum seekers to enter.
To keep out tourists would decimate any countries tourism sector and leave
a large number unemployed.
(Rendering immigration-blamed unemployment even worse.)
Today's living standards depend on international trade.
It also depends heavily on cheap labor to do the dirtywork and the free
movement of brains to drive progress.
As long as we are unwilling to skip our coffees, chocolate and live without
computers, trade must continue.
Since we want neither the absence of tourism, nor the consequences of no trade,
not to mention wars, diplomacy must stay.
Finally, we do proud ourselves of our humanitarian qualities, in short, that we
aren't nazi-ish brutes.
Now, tourist and work visas can be overstaid, diplomatic status given for
creative reasons, and trade even requires occasional visits of foreign
representatives.
All of them could go into hiding. There is no way to track these people for
eventual deportation.
To have anything even remotely similar to a tight border, the entire physical
border must be superveiled and patroled.
Adding the costs of sucha measure to the absence of trade and tourism prosperity
really leaves but one conclusion.
The costs outweigh any possible benefit.

2. Reaction tardiness

A closed border does not diminish the attractiveness of living in a country, but
only of the process of entering it.
Therefore, some people will always find a way to sneak inside.
The greater the lengths are to which prospective immigrants are willing to go to
cross the border, the more resources are needed to control the border.
In effect, a continuing armsrace ensues.
There won't be winners and loosers, and then everything is set, just try after
try of successful or failing border-crossing and border-upkeeping.
What will progress unhaltet however are the costs.
In the best case, the defender, the country or region tightening their borders,
wins nothing. In the worst case it pays.