Immigration And Freedom

A compelling account of the threat immigration control poses to the citizens of free societies Immigration is often seen as a danger to western liberal democracies because it threatens to undermine their fundamental values, most notably freedom and national self-determination. In this book, however, Chandran Kukathas argues that the greater threat comes not from immigration but from immigration control. Kukathas shows that immigration control is not merely about preventing outsiders from moving across borders. It is about controlling what outsiders do once in a society: whether they work, reside, study, set up businesses, or share their lives with others. But controlling outsiders—immigrants or would-be immigrants—requires regulating, monitoring, and sanctioning insiders, those citizens and residents who might otherwise hire, trade with, house, teach, or generally associate with outsiders. The more vigorously immigration control is pursued, the more seriously freedom is diminished. The search for control threatens freedom directly and weakens the values upon which it relies, notably equality and the rule of law. Kukathas demonstrates that the imagined gains from efforts to control immigration are illusory, for they do not promote economic prosperity or social solidarity. Nor does immigration control bring self-determination, since the apparatus of control is an international institutional regime that increases the power of states and their agencies at the expense of citizens. That power includes the authority to determine who is and is not an insider: to define identity itself. Looking at past and current practices across the world, Immigration and Freedom presents a critique of immigration control as an institutional reality, as well as an account of what freedom means—and why it matters.

International borders have become deadly barriers of a proportion rivaled only by war or natural disaster. Yet despite the damage created by borders, most people can’t – or don’t want to – imagine a world without them. What alternatives do we have to prevent the deadly results of contemporary borders? In today’s world, national citizenship determines a person’s ability to migrate across borders. Migration Borders Freedom questions that premise. Recognizing the magnitude of deaths occurring at contemporary borders worldwide, the book problematizes the concept of the border and develops arguments for open borders and a world without borders. It explores alternative possibilities, ranging from the practical to the utopian, that link migration with ideas of community, citizenship, and belonging. The author calls into question the conventional political imagination that assumes migration and citizenship to be responsibilities of nation states, rather than cities. While the book draws on the theoretical work of thinkers such as Ernst Bloch, David Harvey, and Henry Lefebvre, it also presents international empirical examples of policies and practices on migration and claims of belonging. In this way, the book equips the reader with the practical and conceptual tools for political action, activist practice, and scholarly engagement to achieve greater justice for people who are on the move. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315638300 has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

In The Moral and Political Philosophy of Immigration: Liberty, Security, and Equality, José Jorge Mendoza argues that the difficulty with resolving the issue of immigration is primarily a conflict over competing moral and political principles and is thereby, at its core, a problem of philosophy. Establishing the necessity of situating the public debate on immigration at the center of philosophical debates on liberty, security, and equality, this book brings into dialog various contemporary philosophical texts that deal with immigration to provide some normative guidance to future immigration policy and reform. As a groundbreaking work in social and political philosophy, it will be of great value not only to students and scholars in these fields, but also those working in social science, public policy, justice studies, and global studies programs whose work intersects with issues of immigration.

"The Freedom of the Migrant presents a series of reflections on national, ethnic, and cultural identity, offering a unique perspective on such topics as communication, nomadism, housing, nationalism, migrant cultures, and Jewish identity."--BOOK JACKET.

Immigration is among the most prominent, enduring, and contentious features of our globalized world. Yet, there is little systematic, cross-national research on why countries "do what they do" when it comes to their immigration policies. Rights, Deportation, and Detention in the Age of Immigration Control addresses this gap by examining what are arguably the most contested and dynamic immigration policies—immigration control—across 25 immigrant-receiving countries, including the U.S. and most of the European Union. The book addresses head on three of the most salient aspects of immigration control: the denial of rights to non-citizens, their physical removal and exclusion from the polity through deportation, and their deprivation of liberty and freedom of movement in immigration detention. In addition to answering the question of why states do what they do, the book describes contemporary trends in what Tom K. Wong refers to as the machinery of immigration control, analyzes the determinants of these trends using a combination of quantitative analysis and fieldwork, and explores whether efforts to deter unwanted immigration are actually working.

Ballot box voting is often considered the essence of political freedom. But it has two major shortcomings: individual voters have little chance of making a difference, and they face strong incentives to remain ignorant about the issues at stake. "Voting with your feet," however, avoids both these pitfalls and offers a wider range of choices. In Free to Move, Ilya Somin explains how broadening opportunities for foot voting can greatly enhance political liberty for millions of people around the world. People can vote with their feet through international migration, choosing where to live within a federal system, and by making decisions in the private sector. Somin addresses a variety of common objections to expanded migration rights, including claims that the "self-determination" of natives requires giving them the power to exclude migrants, and arguments that migration is likely to have harmful side effects, such as undermining political institutions, overburdening the welfare state, increasing crime and terrorism, and spreading undesirable cultural values. While these objections are usually directed at international migration, Somin shows how a consistent commitment to such theories would also justify severe restrictions on domestic freedom of movement. By making a systematic case for a more open world, Free to Move challenges conventional wisdom on both the left and the right. This revised and expanded edition addresses key new issues, including fears that migration could spread dangerous diseases, such as Covid-19, claims that immigrants might generate a political backlash that threatens democracy, and the impact of remote work.

Real immigrant perspectives of America’s immigration system, perfect for fans of The Book of Awesome Women, Dear America, or American Like Me. Positive and heroic stories. Far too often, immigrants are demonized and scapegoated, when they should be celebrated as heroes and revolutionaries. This book strings together both triumphant and painful tales of immigrants who blazed trails and broke barriers in the fight for fundamental human rights. Unsung Heroes. These are ordinary people who have used their own stories on the fight for citizenship to illustrate their triumphs and trials as immigrants in a new land. Each uses a different strategy and tactics; what works for one does not work for another. They all have one thing in common, however―a desire for racial and social justice. Unsung America will transform how you view immigrants and refugees. In this celebratory book, you will discover: · Powerful theories of social change, and how what seems radical in one era can be normalized in the next · How the fight for citizenship is interconnected and interrelated to other struggles such as the civil rights movement and the LGBTQ movement · Stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things and how you, too, can be a force for good in the world Praise for Unsung America “Unsung America...pushes us to interrogate our violent immigration system and also uplifts the people whose contributions are too often erased.”—Tina Vasquez, senior immigration reporter at Rewire News “Lal lays out a timeline…that vividly chronicles the birth and impact of certain policies, views, and opinions within the realm of immigration policy.”—Juan Escalante, Digital Campaigns Manager at FWD.us

If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you'd mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her? She's in New York. She's holding a torch. And she's taking one step forward. But why? In this fascinating, fun take on nonfiction, uniquely American in its frank tone and honest look at the literal foundation of our country, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art. What they find in the Statue of Liberty's right foot is the powerful message of acceptance that is essential to an entire country's creation. Can you believe that?

What if the new far right poses a graver threat to liberal democracy than jihadists or mass migration?From Europe to the United States and beyond, opportunistic politicians have exploited economic crisis, terrorist attacks and an influx of refugees to bring hateful and reactionary views from the margins of political discourse into the corridors of power. This climate has already helped propel Donald Trump to the White House, pushed Britain out of the European Union, and put Marine Le Pen within striking distance of the French presidency. Sasha Polakow-Suransky's on-the-ground reportage and interviews with the rising stars of the new right tell the story of how we got here, tracing the global rise of anti-immigration politics and the ruthlessly effective rebranding of Europe's new far right as defenders of Western liberal values. Go Back to Where You Came From is an indispensable account of why xenophobia went mainstream in countries known historically as defenders of human rights and models of tolerance.