You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state

Milton Friedman once said in a lecture,

you cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state

and argued that you have to resolve the inconsistency between the two equally desirable goals.

From Walter Russell Mead it is clear that we are, decades later, still unresolved: Germany to Deport EU Citizens.

German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich announced Friday that the government would begin deporting poor Bulgarians and Romanians who had moved to the country to take advantage of the generous welfare benefits. According to Spiegel:

The issue was prompted by complaints from German communities claiming that an increasing number of people are arriving from Romania and Bulgaria with the help of organized gangs, obtaining a business license and applying for benefits a few months later under the pretences that the business has been unsuccessful.

Friedrich says that those who are found defrauding social services will be expelled from the country, despite the fact that they are granted the right to work and travel throughout the member states as citizens of the European Union.

Trade-offs: A welfare state is a powerful statement of community - we look after each other. But the more powerful the statement, the more you have to be clear - us but not you.