That basic income still has to be funded somehow, and even without it the public services (plus some self-employed or begging income) of modern welfare state provide a standard of living that is far better than the income of large numbers of people in poor countries. Opening the borders with current welfare structures (or any &quot;basic income&quot; that covers everyone) will lead to insolvency of the public sector and loss of confidence to government by the people who pay taxes.<p>Welfare system or open borders, choose one. This is a bit simplistic, but there&#x27;s no escape from this problem.