My gut instinct (and a chat with Elizabeth, who has dual nationality and emigrated here from Switzerland) makes me think that it is bad. Here are some reasons:
1. Freedom of movement is a basic human right. Stopping people from moving where they wish is intrinsically bad.
2. Law of unintended consequences: make it harder to immigrate to a non-oppressive, non-illiberal, non-intolerant (well, we like to think so) and fewer people will do it. That means that more people will be still living in the oppressive, etc state, and so will their children, who will be brought up under the same strictures and perpetuate the cycle. Similarly, you may get more illegal immigrants who avoid the system entirely
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Exactly. all that wol really do is make it harder for the families of people who've escaped said oppressive etc regimes to get out. The idea that there's some huge problem of immigrants coming here and not learning English is bollocks: almost every immigrant wants to learn English, there is no conspiracy like the Daily Mail seems to think of turning us all into Arabic speakers. And the solution to the (limited) problems caused by non-fluent English speakers (who, incidentally, include English-born people who left school and things just as much as they include immigrants, but mysteriously this is never brought up because omfg those people are white, not like those darkies) is better learning opportunities and better support systems in place, both for new immigrants and for the longer-term poor.
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1. Freedom of movement is a basic human right. Stopping people from moving where they wish is intrinsically bad.
2. Law of unintended consequences: make it harder to immigrate to a non-oppressive, non-illiberal, non-intolerant (well, we like to think so) and fewer people will do it. That means that more people will be still living in the oppressive, etc state, and so will their children, who will be brought up under the same strictures and perpetuate the cycle. Similarly, you may get more illegal immigrants who avoid the system entirely ( ... )
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