Borderlines: The Ethics of Immigration

“We have lots of great social and political mechanisms for integrating people into the new society that they moved to.”

— Fabio Rojas

Is immigration a basic human right? Or is it a privilege?

This is an episode of Living Jewishly’s monthly podcast series by Dr. Elliott Malamet about ethics called What Would You Do. In this episode, Dr. Malamet explores the subject of immigration through an ethical lens.

Immigration to Western countries is one of the most hotly debated and controversial topics of our time, sparking much writing, political debates, and even heated arguments between families and friends.

Some people view immigrants with fear, seeing them as violent or criminal (a fear stoked by certain political factions), while others see them as people looking to move up the economic ladder, provide for their families, and lead productive lives, or as refugees in need of compassion and safe haven.

Western governments are challenged to discern between these realities when developing their policies — as the sometimes fine line between “immigrant” and “refugee” can mean life or death for millions of people.

Leading American scholars Fabio Rojas and Professor Kit Wellman join Dr. Elliot Malamet for a thought-provoking discussion on the ethical nuances of open borders, sovereignty, cultural integrity, moral responsibility, freedom of association, family reunification and global distributive justice.

“The way I see it… you don’t fully have self-determination unless you enjoy freedom of association.”

— Professor Kit Wellman

This‌ ‌episode discusses:‌ ‌

• The concept of ‘open borders’ and what this policy can look like in practice
• The right of the state to determine its own freedom of association
• How global distributive justice ties into arguments about immigration and whether it can be achieved through other means