How Immigration Connects with Standard Economics

I said the following to a friend: "Thinking abstractly, you moving out of your house to go shopping is immigration since nation-states are mere legal entities that have no effect on the economics."

He didn't understand me, so now I will explain this idea more clearly in this post.

Firstly, think about you going out to the mall or a shop and buying something. Why do you do this? Why buy an apple from the mall instead of growing your own apples? The answer is because of the law of comparative advantage. If I grew my own apple then it's too expensive. It's better to let someone else specialize in making apples. You buy the apply using money you get form specializing in something else, whether it's being a doctor, lawyer, accountant, etc.

This is why existence of barriers to trade can be harmful. Suppose there is a wall or border around your house preventing you from buying apples. Then the cost of getting apples from someone else rises and it becomes cheaper for you to make your own apples. Then you do something you are not specialized in, which damages your production of your core tasks. E.g. if I am an accountant then all the time I put into growing my own apples will mean I have to work less as an accountant which means my overall wealth decreases.

Just scale this concept up a bit and it applies to immigration and outsourcing. Banning immigration means drawing a line somewhere and stopping people moving.

Many people argue that immigration can cause certain groups of people to lose and this is true. Wages can change, but this is all part of the free trade process. For example, today we see many car companies, Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, etc. Suppose only one existed. Suppose only Ford existed. Because Ford has no competition, it can lower quality and increase prices with little effect on profitability. If the Government created cars then this is communism. Now suppose other companies were allowed to compete. Will this lower wages? Yes, those working for Ford will suffer from lower wages. The same applies for immigration or outsourcing except we think not about cars as commodities but human labor as the commodity. Immigration restriction is a form of protectionism.