The Migration Question

Who are these migrants? Do they steal our jobs? Can we help them in their home countries? Do border controls improve security? Are open borders desirable?

In this Ethical Matters talk, Leila Simona Talani and Dr Matilde Rosina address these questions and more from their deeply researched study of migration into both Europe and the United States.

Assessing globalisation’s impact on international migration, Leila and Matilde find that it is virtually impossible to stop contemporary flows from the Global South to North. Policies designed to control, limit or deter immigration simply transform some or all regular migrants into irregular ones—exacerbating insecurity for citizens of the receiving state, and criminalising the migrants. Through empirical research including original surveys and interviews, Leila and Matilde propose new thinking to the migration question—particularly since evidence shows that regularising migration is a positive-sum game, in economic, social and security terms.

Leila Simona Talani has been Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of European and International Studies, King’s College London, since 2014; Editor of Palgrave Macmillan’s series on the Politics of Citizenship and Migration since 2020.

Dr Matilde Rosina is a Lecturer in Global Challenges at Brunel University London and Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics. An expert on international migration trends and politics, Matilde’s research has been featured in leading journals including the Journal of Common Market Studies, Policy Studies, and Mediterranean Politics.