>>509844493 (OP)The idea that the left is fighting to open borders is a misunderstanding and if anything, the push for open borders has often come from the political right, especially from neoliberal and corporate interests. Why? Because open borders in that context mean unrestricted access to cheap labor, weakened labor protections, and the ability to undercut unionized workforces across nations.
Many leftist movements actually oppose open borders in the neoliberal sense, not because they’re anti-immigrant, but because unregulated migration can be used by capital to suppress wages, divide workers, and break solidarity. Left-wing parties tend to support controlled, rights-based immigration because they understand that mass migration without worker safeguards often benefits employers, not working people.
In contrast, it’s the economic right — from Thatcher to the EU’s internal market advocates — that has historically pushed for fluid borders for goods, capital, and labor, often at the expense of sovereignty and worker power.
So if you think giving up the fight will lead to a leftist utopia with no borders, you’re mistaken. The people who really want unregulated borders are those who want cheap, mobile labor with no voice. And that’s not leftist; that’s market fundamentalism.