Values and Ethics in Immigration Restriction

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Introduction Immigration may be caused by several factors. These include “economic, political, family re-unification, natural disaster, poverty or the wish to change one's surroundings voluntarily” (Immigration Restriction League, 2013). It is well known that the United States is a country of immigrants, with its most popular immigrants having been the Pilgrims. However, immigration in the United States has come a long way since the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth Harbor in December 16, 1620 (Who Were the Pilgrims, 2013). In 2010 several hundred million people immigrated to the United States increasing the total U.S. population to approximately 340 million, and by the year 2050 it is estimated that with immigration this population will reach 397 million (Immigration To The United States, 2013). With this increase in immigration a concern for immigration restriction is increasingly becoming a more important aspect of the country’s public administration. There are various aspects surrounding the ethical issues of immigration. Some of these, and those issues that I will not touch upon, include the “definition and moral status of refugees, the circumstances (if any) in which it is permissible to use guest workers [and,] what obligations [the] country [might] incur [should] it actively [recruit] skilled workers from a poor state” (Wellman, 2010). For the purpose of this paper, my research is aimed at the ethics of immigration restriction. According to some critics, a number of American immigration restriction laws of the past may have been led with racist undertones such as a resistance to immigrants of differing “languages, customs and religion” (“Shut the Door”: A Senator Speaks for Immigration Restriction, 2013). Currently, immigration restrictions in the U.S. are generally directed by economic and national or international political reasons. Furthermore, the

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