Abstract
Libertarian philosopher Michael Huemer has argued recently that there is a prima facie right to immigrate, and, moreover, that concerns people have about the effects of immigration are not strong enough to neutralize or override this prima facie right. In this paper, I focus on one particular concern that Huemer deems insufficiently strong to neutralize or override the prima facie right to immigrate, namely, the concern that unrestricted immigration poses a threat to one’s culture. I argue that Huemer fails to show that the concern is insufficiently strong.
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Notes
Jason Brennan (Brennan 2012, pp. 150ff) takes Huemer’s view to be representative of libertarianism. In a blog post, Brennan considers Huemer’s argument to provide “strong prima facie deontological justification for open borders” (http://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/2014/03/in-praise-of-open-borders/, accessed on March 23, 2016). Libertarian economist Bryan Caplan has provided a very similar argument, explicitly inspired by Huemer’s paper (in Caplan 2012).
For various formulations, and qualifications, of this consideration, see, among others, Walzer 1983, pp. 61–2; Barry 1992, p. 286; Carens 1992, pp. 36–40; Woodward 1992, pp. 70–71; Heath 1997, pp. 348–350; Dummett 2001, pp. 14–20; Kershnar 2000, pp. 142-144; Miller 2005, pp. 200–201; Moore 2015, pp. 199–200; Miller, forthcoming, pp. 22–23. It may be worth noting that the consideration is regarded as having at least some force by people of various political persuasions, including liberal egalitarians (e.g. Joseph Carens) and pro-immigration activists (e.g. Michael Dummett).
Or at least “ordinary, noncriminal migrants who wish to leave their country of origin for morally innocent reasons, whether to escape persecution or economic hardship, or simply to join a society they would prefer to live in” (Huemer 2010, p. 430). The latter reason (“simply to join a society they would prefer to live in”) suggests that Huemer is assuming a rather broad notion of harm. Note, too, that Huemer declines to provide a general theory of harm (on p. 436).
The connection between home-feeling and cultural preservation is made by, among others, Dummett 2001 (p. 19) and Miller, forthcoming (p. 22).
I borrow this expression from Caldwell 2009, pp. 274, who uses it in a similar context.
“less clear” because there seems to be widespread acceptance of territories (“reserves”) within countries that are for certain ethnic groups only; for example, Indians in Canada or Aboriginals in Australia.
Apart from “Sam’s desire to be surrounded by people who think and behave in ways similar to himself” (p. 450). Again, the interest in cultural preservation seems to be reduced to a personal preference that could hardly justify the use of harmful coercion.
Cf. “The majority of less well-off immigrants to the United States come from Latin America. Although many are poor by North American standards, they are not remotely as poor as many people in Africa and South Asia. Actual immigrants are typically also far from being among the worst off in the population from which they come. Those who are able to make the trip to the United States must possess some economic resources, reasonably good physical health and typically will have skills and abilities that make them employable in the US labor markets” (Woodward 1992, p. 65).
For example, Dummett has claimed that the ‘right not to be submerged’ by some other ethnic or cultural group “is of extremely limited application” (Dummett 2001, pp. 14ff).
Thanks to Nathan Cofnas and Neven Sesardic for helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.
References
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De Clercq, R. Huemer on Immigration and the Preservation of Culture. Philosophia 45, 1091–1098 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-017-9830-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-017-9830-3