The heart of surreptitious xenophobia

I get annoyed when the debate about immigration falls into a reasoning of pros and cons. Let's start with the pros. In Sweden, we have a population that grows older and older and we need young immigrants to compensate for our square shaped age pyramid (and eventually an upside-down pyramid). Don't misunderstand me, I agree that immigration is crucial for our society to live long and prosper. The thing that bugs me is that the argument is out of context. It may be appropriate in a debate on our social domestic challenges but not when it comes to immigration itself. The main reason for a generous immigration policy is to allow people, that are desperate enough to leave their homes seeking their fortune elsewhere, to come here. It is an opportunity every human shall have. We shall not let our petty differences stand in the way.

Now, about the cons: like one of the representatives of Sverigedemokraterna once said in a debate about the increasing number of Roma people begging on our streets: If we wouldn't had joined the european union, we wouldn't have had this problem. So, these people wouldn't have existed if we hadn't joined the union? Again, the perspective is so screwed up. Why not be honest instead and say: I don't care if people live in extreme poverty, as long as they don't do it here.

Ok, I am not naive, I know we won't see multilateral and global free immigration happening in our time. But please, don't argue against it as you would have a humane reason to. Reveal yourself! You are just deceiving good people to believe that there is a good and not-so-inhumane argument behind it. I am just afraid that the rightwing movement will leave us awaking too late and asking ourselves:

What have we done?