How and When are We Right to Prioritize the Interests of Residents and Citizens?

Abstract

This article assesses an assumption pervasive in one strain of arguments in favor of stringent immigration controls. The assumption affirms that—for the case of regular admissions—to a certain extent states are permitted to prioritize the interests of their citizens and residents by issuing exclusionary immigration policies (call this the priority assumption). Using the normative methodology of applied international ethics, I suggest some broad constraints to this priority assumption that have a bearing on justifications for current practical immigration policy in Europe, North America, and beyond. I do so by redefining borders as domestic-international institutions that open up borders not only to (internal) standards of justice but also to standards of international legitimacy.

The constitutional essentials of immigration and justice-based evaluations.

“…While the collective may have the right to control their imaginaries, why should this mean they have also the right to control something material like the land? The transit between the imaginary and the material is never justified (Camacho-Beltrán, 2020). As Hidalgo explains, the moral permissibility of establishing a legal jurisdiction of political institutions do not entail the moral permissibility of any policy or exercise of political power issue by those institutions (Hidalgo, 2012, p. 16).…”

Ethical Theories and Approaches to Immigration in the United States: A Focus on Undocumented Immigrants

“…Taking a middle stance, Beltran (2020) argues that, based on priority assumption, it is morally permissible for states to limit immigration using exclusionary immigration policies and borders, to favor certain interests of residents and citizens (p. 10).…”

Note From the Editor: Brexit, Borders, and Burden Sharing

“…Camacho Beltrán (2020) does not dwell on Brexit. But his article in this issue theoretically connects contemporary questions of sovereignty, borders, immigration, and the mutual obligations that regional integration requires in a way that can help us understand why Brexit happened and what is now at stake.…”