Below are listed some extremely well known and influential libertarian thinkers (not necessarily known for their stance on immigration) and their views on immigration. For a list of contemporary libertarian (and other) thinkers who have advocated for open borders, see the pro-open borders people page. For more on the libertarian case for immigration, see libertarian case.
| Thinker name | Birth and death years | Views on immigration |
| Frédéric Bastiat | 1801-1850 | Bastiat did not directly cover the topic of immigration much, but some sources interpret his writings as supportive of free migration. |
| Milton Friedman | 1912-2006 | Supported open borders conditional to dismantling of the welfare state (which he also supported). More details here. |
| Murray Rothbard | 1926-1995 | Started out as pro-immigration, but came out in opposition to open borders in his later life. He formulated and inspired many of the anti-immigration arguments based on the anarcho-capitalist counterfactual, a thread of argument taken up by Hans-Hermann Hoppe. More on Rothbard’s views here. |
| Ayn Rand | 1905-1982 | Herself an “illegal immigrant,” Rand supported free immigration. More here. |
| Friedrich Hayek | 1899-1992 | Viewed free immigration as desirable in the long run but felt that open borders at present might lead to a nativist backlash, according to this source. |