President Trump's US Government has been shut down for nearly four weeks now over the political impasse that exists between President Trump and the Democrats over securing the necessary funds for his proposed border walls. On January 16, 2019, the UK Parliament voted against Prime Minister May's Brexit deal. In 2018, Aun San Suu Kyi was stripped of some honors she has spent her lifetime garnering information over the shoddy way her government handled the Rohingya debacle.

The burning issue: Immigration

All these political storms have one burning issue at their center: Immigration!

President Trump believes his border walls will prevent criminals and drug peddlers from crossing into the United States. He is even prepared to try and barter for it with the Dreamers, CNBC reports. The Brexiters think that unregulated, massive immigration from the other parts of Europe has made life difficult for ordinary Britons who have to fight for socioeconomic resources with the immigrants, many of whom are illegal. And the upheavals in Myanmar's Rakhine State was sparked by an attempt by the Aun San Suu Kyi-led government to reverse centuries-old migration and settlement structure of the Rohingya people, who have long occupied the area.

Immigration and nation-building

Former Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull once said, "anyone who thinks it's smart to cut immigration is sentencing Australia to poverty." Turnbull's traditional view of immigration is closely connected to nation-building.

At least, that has been the primary reason many nations open their borders for talented immigrants to flock in. The fact remains that no nation can stand on its own; every country requires some level of foreign expertise to fill up some shortfall in domestic skills and manpower. And if managed well, with great but flexible policies, immigration is a win-win program for both the immigrants and the countries welcoming them.

The rise in conservative immigration

However, populism, promoted among the political class, is largely responsible for the flame of conservative immigration that is burning from one country to another. With their verbal pyrotechnics, it doesn't take long for those anti-immigration politicians to pit their citizens against the immigrants among them.

It is a matter of giving a "dog a bad name so that you can easily hang it!".

If unchecked, there are dangerous consequences associated with the over-nationalistic drive; it is similar to shutting doors on both the talented and unskilful workforce. It can also lead to massive unrest and social disorderliness. Take, for instance, Europe's perennial struggle with the influx of refugees has left some dent on the continent's rule of law and social accountability.

In Libya, some unfortunate African migrants have found themselves in the most uncomfortable circumstances as the locals mounted a resistance against those using their country as a passageway to Europe. Some of these migrants have been beaten, sold as slaves, or even have their internal organs harvested and sold in the black market.

One thing is very clear: Conservative immigration is anti-social and unproductive. In the words of the former Australian Prime Minister, a nation that practices conservative immigration may be prepping itself for poverty, culturally and economically.
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