In polities with free internal movement, letting states or nations set their own immigration rules fails because entry anywhere becomes entry everywhere. Effective control must be exercised at the external border by the largest relevant unit (U.S. federal government; EU‑level forces), not by localities or individual nations. This reframes national‑vs‑local fights as a scale‑matching problem.
— It guides institutional design by showing where authority must sit to make border policy coherent in a free‑movement system.
Noah Smith
2025.10.01
55% relevant
Both argue governance must match the scale of movement across borders; Smith’s 'network of states' channels authority through multi‑state agreements to serve transnational, online communities, echoing the scale‑matching logic that control should sit at the largest relevant unit.
Robert C. Thornett
2025.08.20
70% relevant
By shifting jurisdiction of border strips (e.g., the Roosevelt Reservation and new NDAs in New Mexico and Texas) to the Department of Defense and deploying Strykers and helicopters, the article exemplifies exerting control at the external perimeter via the largest relevant unit (federal/DoD) rather than interior micromanagement.
Steve Sailer
2025.07.16
100% relevant
Sailer notes the U.S. is effectively a Schengen area and thus immigration is controlled at the federal, continental border rather than by states.