Held on April 23, 2019, "Ethics and Rights of Immigration" was part of the IES Migrations Series launched by the Institute for European Studies in AY 2017. The series conceptualizes the migration of not only people, but also images, words, ideas, technologies, objects, information, and food.
Continuing into AY 2020-2021, the series aims to unpack the historical and contemporary relevance of migration in writing global histories and understanding the present, as well as to put Europe in its global context. It critically acknowledges European countries’ role in the history of modernization and colonization of other countries within and outside Europe and disclosed the region’s character as an immigrant continent and diaspora of various peoples.
Ethics and Rights of Immigration:
All the countries in the world operate under the assumption that they have a right to control immigration within their jurisdictions. Most states take this right to be very robust, giving the state almost absolute discretion in determining who to let in and under what conditions. But is this right to control immigration morally justified? Should states have almost absolute control over their borders, keeping out anyone they wish? How does immigration control affect the moral standing of minorities within the country? Should borders be much more open and allow a free, or almost free, flow of immigrants? Do individuals living in distressed or war-torn parts of the world have a human right to immigrate to more affluent and peaceful countries? Or is the right to immigration confined to cases of asylum?
Panelist:
Patti Tamara Lenard (University of Ottawa)
Jeremy Waldron (New York University School of Law)
Christopher Heath Wellman (Washington University in St. Louis)